The goal of the project, which is funded in part by the BMWi and has a total volume of 1 million euros, is to significantly improve the intensive care monitoring of patients undergoing particularly severe surgical interventions on the aorta.
Until the end of 2023, the consortium based in the capital city with the partners Charité Medical University Berlin, Technical University Berlin, SectorCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and ID Information und Dokumentation im Gesundheitswesen GmbH & Co. will develop a completely new and unique solution based on highly integrated sensor technology.
The aim of the project is the development of a non-invasive sensor system as well as an associated measurement procedure for the monitoring of regional blood flow and oxygen supply. As a clinical use case, the monitoring of the spinal cord during surgical interventions on the aorta is to be realized. Especially in the treatment of thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAA/A), the method is intended to contribute to significantly reducing the risk of reduced blood flow and thus damage to the spinal cord. In this context, entirely new insights into the collateral network for spinal cord perfusion will also be generated.
To date, no clinically available solution exists in this regard for precise perioperative monitoring of local perfusion of the spinal cord. Accordingly, aortic interventions are associated with high risks and the patients are exposed to the danger of critical ischemia. As a consequence, there is a risk of serious complications, including paraplegia. From a health economic point of view, there is also an urgent need for new possibilities for precise and individualized monitoring. According to recent research, an incidence of spinal cord ischemia (SCI) during aortic repair occurs in 3.7% of cases.
With this background, a combined sensor system consisting of a reflection pulse oximeter and sensors for measuring the local pressure fluctuation on the dorsal surface is to be developed.
The final goal is a platform-based monitoring solution in which data is collected in the operating room using a mobile device and transmitted wirelessly to a cloud server structure. There, data processing as well as analysis and interpretation under medical aspects will take place in near real time. For this purpose, powerful algorithms are developed to process the high-frequency input data. The results of the analysis are made available to users with minimal latency via a connection to existing clinical information systems.
With the envisaged architecture, it will be possible for the first time to process live data directly from the operating room in the cloud and to utilize the innovative possibilities of this approach.
In addition to the dynamic scalability to ensure high-performance processing of the data, it is primarily the extremely fast and flexible ability to adapt the algorithms that makes the treatment of patients safer and more successful.
SmartOxy is a cooperative project of the Clinic for Anesthesiology with a focus on Operative Intensive Care Medicine at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, SectorCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Technische Universität Berlin and ID Information und Dokumentation im Gesundheitswesen GmbH & Co.
The development of the non-invasive patient monitoring of the future requires the interdisciplinary cooperation of all involved players from medicine, industry, politics and other stakeholders. If you would also like to contribute to this, please contact us.
Contact usFunded by: Bundesmisterium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz aufgrund eines Beschlusses des Deutschen Bundestages
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