Philips, MIT team-up to help healthcare researchers

PhysioNet

Philips has joined forces with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to help health care researchers enter into one of the largest data sources available for critical care.

As part of the deal, Philips has granted access to data from more than 100,000 patients that have been collected and anonymized through the Philips Hospital to Home eICU telehealth program.

On the other hand, the Laboratory of Computational Physiology within the MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science will serve as the academic research hub for the initiative, and will provide and maintain access, as well as help educate researchers on the database and offer a platform for collaboration.

Investigators will be able to contribute to the expanding knowledge base by sharing their methodologies and findings with the larger research community.The data will be available to researchers via PhysioNet before the end of the year, offering free web access to large collections of physiologic signals and related open-source software. Investigators will be able to contribute to the expanding knowledge base by sharing their methodologies and findings with the larger research community to facilitate faster discoveries in the future.

Most inpatient multi-center data sets available to researchers today are limited to insurance claims data, which offers just a summary of a patient’s stay. Through this new initiative, Philips will release a more comprehensive look at the ICU patient’s journey by opening up data sets from patient stays in eICU centers representing approximately 10% of all adult ICU beds in the United States. The secure database will include details such as vital signs, pharmacy medication orders, laboratory results, diagnoses and severity of illness scores, giving researchers comprehensive insights into a patient stay.