Kaspard temp

Inspiration

About 50% of the Covid19 deaths in Europe happen in nursing homes ! 68% in Spain, 51% in the UK, 40% in Italy, 39% in France, 53% in Belgium, ... One of the reasons for such high numbers is the lack of early detection. How to be informed quickly of potential risk and how to avoid the spread of the virus among all residents ? With the release of the lockdown measures, any new case in nursing homes should be very rapidly detected. Testing directly for Covid19 will not be possible on a daily basis. That means that some vital signs of the residents, like temperature, will need to be permanently monitor for early detection. How can the nurses, who will have more work in a more difficult environment, take these frequent measures and, above all, report them easily and securely for efficient follow up ?

What it does

A connected thermometer that would send automatically the data in a central reporting system with direct alarms. The thermometer can be connected to the Kaspard device, so that it does not require any additional hardware in the room for data transmission. The design of the thermometer should make the use very easy and save for the nurses. It could be contactless or permanent like an armband. After the take of the temperature (which can be automatic), the nurse should not have to bother about the transfer of the information. The measures should be available directly, under the form of an alarm, to the appropriate staff. An existing thermometer or alternatively a new type of thermometer with no intervention of the nurses could be developed. The data would be sent automatically (potentially through the Kaspard device) to a local server. Data would be automatically analyzed, followed up and alarms would be generated in case of too high temperatures. Kaspard is originally a solution that detects fall and abnormally long bed exits. It is a small contactless and non intrusive device which is fixed on the ceiling. It has bluetooth capacity and is connected to the local server with wifi. With the detection of fall and abnormally long bed exits, it sends already real-time alarms to the nurses in case of a dangerous situation. This means a safer environment, especially in Covid19 time, where nurses do not need to visit the rooms to be aware of a fall. By adding the thermometer to the solution, it gives the nursing homes a more complete solution for the remote, contactless real-time surveillance of at-risk residents. By being present in nursing homes, we have heard the need for connected thermometers. By analyzing the market, we have seen that thermometers are made for home purposes or are very expensive for hospitals. No device is really adapted for direct transfer of data in nursing homes.

How I built it

We use existing connected thermometer to communicate with the Kaspard device. If more appropriate for nursing homes, we design a specific thermometer based on existing components.

Challenges I ran into

The short term option: Connected thermometers already exist at home. But they are build for family purpose, to connect with one app, on one device at a time. Here we need to develop a flexible and reliable solution so that the thermometer, going with the nurse from one room to another, would be connected for each resident to a different device in each room. We need to adapt existing home thermometers into a connected reliable device for the nursing homes environment. The mid-term option is to develop a new type of thermometer which would continuously take the temperatures of the residents without the nurses intervention.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We have seen the benefits of Kaspard in practice: a reduction of falls by 3, a decrease of contention by 75%, more objectives discussions for personalized care. We believe that with the connected thermometer we can have the same level of impact. We can facilitate the take of temperatures in nursing homes and give alarms in real time. This will mean earlier detection and less deaths in nursing homes with a simple device.

What I learned

Nursing homes need easy to use automatic solutions, which give real-time alarms to the appropriate persons. When measures need to be written manually, they are barely followed up. We would facilitate the work of all the staff and ensure that high temperatures are immediately followed up.

What's next for Kaspard: Connected devices in nursing homes

To identify the most adapted thermometers on the market for nursing homes and To transform them into connected devices OR to build the most appropriate connected thermometer, adapted for nursing homes based on existing devices on the market