Scripps Translational Science Institute has scored a grant from USAID to develop a mobile-enabled program to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients, increase the safety of health care workers and reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others.
Under the deal, Scripps will lead a consortium of four partners which will launch the program dubbed STAMP2, which is short for Sensor Technology and Analytics to Monitor, Predict and Protect Ebola Patients. The initiative will test in a new “precision medicine” approach using modern mobile technologies such as wearables, wireless health sensors, a wireless vital signs monitoring platform and advanced analytics technology to monitor and analyze multiple vital signs of patients either suspected or confirmed to be infected with the Ebola virus.
STAMP2 represents a potential solution to current shortcomings in the management of Ebola patients by targeting an opportunity for earlier interventions and minimizing spread of the virus. The existing approach for monitoring patients suspected of an infection detects the infection only after a patient has become contagious and the virus has the opportunity to spread. Continuous monitoring of multiple vital signs, coupled with sophisticated, personalized data analytics, can lead to much earlier warning and with it, earlier intervention. For patients confirmed to be infected, continuous monitoring of multiple vital signals can detect important changes in health status immediately.
“The new approach will provide unprecedented visibility into a patient’s physiology that we believe will be invaluable in improving care in minimizing risk of exposure during an Ebola virus outbreak,” said Steven Steinhubl, M.D., director of digital medicine at Scripps Health. “This will open the door to being able to identify warning signs very early on, when potentially lifesaving care can be provided.”
STAMP2 will test in a new “precision medicine” approach using modern mobile devices and advanced analytics technology to monitor and analyze multiple vital signs of patients.Patient data will be collected using two wireless monitors that will continuously and remotely monitor and transmit multiple vital signs – the ViSi Mobile System from Sotera Wireless, and a Band Aid-type sensor MultiSense from Rhythm Diagnostic Systems.
Collected data will be transmitted wirelessly to a personalized physiology analytics (PPA) platform developed by physIQ, which will use advanced machine learning algorithms to detect subtle changes in a patient’s physiological profile over time, compared to the patient’s physiological baseline. The PPA will also provide automated analysis, actionable information and guidance to clinical staff for multiple patients simultaneously. This offers the opportunity to detect and act upon changes in a patient’s health status in real time, well before symptoms develop or conditions worsen.
Plans to develop, validate, refine and field test the STAMP2 program are currently under way. Following the completion of these processes, it is expected that a fully functioning turnkey STAMP2 system would be made available for deployment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest such outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa, with more than 13,000 confirmed cases and more than 9,000 deaths.