Wireless environmental sensors from healthcare IoT company Drayson Technologies are to be piloted in intensive care units at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.
The sensors will enable near real-time monitoring of room temperature and carbon monoxide concentrations, a key indicator of air quality, allowing medical staff to react swiftly to any subtle changes that could impact on patient recovery times.
The announcement was made by CW+, the charity for Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, as part of its Critical Care Campaign, which aims to raise £10 million in order to expand and redevelop both the adult and neonatal intensive care units at the hospital.
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Sensor-rich environment
The planned work, it is claimed, will enable the hospital to treat 700 more critically ill adults and babies each year, in a “sensor-rich environment” that the charity believes will have a significant impact on patient wellbeing and recovery.
The environmental sensors pilot, meanwhile, will be lead by Dr Lawrence Petalidis, head of innovation and impact at CW+, working alongside a team from Drayson Technologies. It is due to start in the next few weeks.
Said Zoe Penn, medical director for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: “We are delighted to be partnering with Drayson Technologies to pilot this truly innovative technology in our intensive care units. Together with our charity, we want to create the best possible environment for healing and being able to monitor the environmental conditions in near real time will be crucial in achieving this.”
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London’s pollution problem
Air quality is a problem in the UK capital and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is located on Fulham Road, a busy thoroughfare in west London. This week, London mayor Sadiq Khan triggered the capital’s emergency air quality alert due to high levels of air pollution – the seventh time he has had to do so in 13 months.
London’s pollution issue is also a topic with which Drayson Technologies is very familiar. Earlier this year, the company announced it would be installing its CleanSpace Tag air pollution sensors into vehicles owned by Greentomatocars, an environmentally friendly private hire service, in order to map out hyper-local air pollution in the UK capital.