Medical IoT: A case study on technical, clinical and regulatory requirements on IoT in critical care

Purpose and goal

Internet of Things (IoT) has great potential to support decision-making and improve workflows in healthcare. Medical requirements, however, are numerous on technology and usability for not risking patient safety and privacy. Furthermore, IoT solutions should create real value for the patient (i.e., comfort) and the clinic (i.e., economics).

Results and expected effects

The final report describes practitioner needs and requirements on IoT technology in healthcare. Moreover, a demonstrator was developed in the project that exemplifies a future IoT-scenario. The project has in addition to the above contributed to four academic publications and two major grants from the Sweden Civil Contingencies Agency.

Approach and implementation

An ethnographic workplace study in accordance with the DiCot method was conducted during two weeks at the Emergency Departement, Linköping University Hospital, Sweden. Additionally a number of interviews with staff from the Burn Intensive Care Unit, Intensive Care Unit, Surgery Departement and the prehospital staff was conducted. A workshop with staff from the Linköping Emergency Department was also performed. Based on the above, information scenarios and a demonstration system was created to exemplify how IoT can improve work processes and management in emergency medicine.