Technology


Turning cameras into health monitors


Oxehealth claims to be the world’s first company to offer technology that enables clinicians and carers to monitor human activity and vital signs ‘totally contact-free’ using only mass-produced optical sensors. The technology alerts staff to potential safety events, enables remote taking of medical grade heart and breathing rate observations, and provides ‘smart activity reports’ to inform clinical judgements and facilitate earlier step-down in the care required. As business development director, Mental Health, Charlotte Wood, explains, Oxehealth has been working with Broadmoor Hospital since 2015, and recently completed its first commercial installation in mental health.


Caring for vulnerable people in mental health settings is uniquely challenging. Patients often present with physical, as well as mental, health conditions, and require complex care to stay safe. Limited access to information about a person’s physical health can make managing the care of these patients difficult. While every effort is made to check and rouse patients appropriately, sadly complications can still arise between scheduled checks. According to a BBC news story, more than 8,000 serious incidents occurred in mental health Trusts in England in 2015.1 Serious incidents and deaths in hospital are a tragedy for the patient’s family, traumatic for staff, and costly for hospitals.


SUPPORT FOR CLINICIANS FROM BREAKTHROUGH ENGINEERING Oxehealth was founded by the head of Engineering at Oxford University, Professor Lionel Tarassenko, a leading authority on biomedical engineering and digital health. The business was formed in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME). This unique group asks clinicians what challenges they most need addressing, and then throws at biomedical engineers the task and challenge of inventing tools to meet those clinical needs. In Oxehealth’s case, the team was motivated


by a desire to reduce the suffering of babies and dialysis patients without jeopardising their standard of care. The challenge in this case was


to monitor vital signs completely contact-free, preventing the pain caused by placing wired devices on their sensitive and irritated skin.


APPLYING PROVEN SCIENCE Professor Tarassenko and his team of engineers were able to apply proven science in a ground- breaking way to solve this challenge. Two clinically validated studies with the Kidney and Neonatal Intensive Care Units at the Oxford University Hospitals Trust were the proof he needed to spin out a new company, and Oxehealth was established in 2012.


TURNING CAMERAS INTO HEALTH MONITORS Oxehealth is the world’s first company to deliver medical-grade, contact-free vital signs monitoring (heart rate and respiration rate) and activity monitoring using only low-cost digital video camera sensors and infrared illuminators. Every time our heart beats, our skin flashes


red. Oxehealth’s software uses the science of photoplethysmography to detect these ‘micro blushes’ in our skin and display our heart rate. It’s the same science as used in a finger pulse oximeter, and comparably accurate. Oxehealth’s software monitors breathing of a patient in much the same way as a nurse does today. The software is able to detect minute mechanical movements of the body each time we take a breath and derive our respiration


Because the software automatically assesses the image for the insights required, no human need ever view the video stream – although the interface allows authorised individuals to log in and look at the video before deciding how to respond to an alert or report


16 THE NETWORK JANUARY 2018


Oxehealth’s Charlotte Wood says: “At Oxehealth, the focus is above all on improving patient outcomes, but our technology can help reduce the risks to staff too.”


rate. It works with comparable accuracy to contact medical devices such as chest bands, even when we are covered, fully clothed, or it is completely dark.


Oxehealth technology can also track human activity and other safety indicators. The proprietary software uses computer vision, machine learning, and signal processing, to derive patient health and activity data. For example, customers can establish how often a patient has got out of bed overnight, whether they are they still in their room, and whether they have fallen over. Because the software automatically assesses the image for the insights required, no human need ever view the video stream – although the interface allows authorised individuals to log in and look at the video before deciding how to respond to an alert or report.


Broadmoor – pioneers in the real world Clinicians at Broadmoor Hospital, which is operated by West London Mental Health NHS Trust, saw the potential in Oxehealth’s technology early on. Back in 2014, Broadmoor’s then clinical director, Dr Kevin Murray, approached Oxehealth to see if contact-free


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