Alejandro Vargas Gutiérrez, from the University of Antioquia in Colombia, developed an intelligent device to support health personnel attending people in Intensive Care Units (ICU), specifically COVID patients, in pronation tasks.
An Artificial Intelligence based device, which supports the task of rotating patients who require it in their treatment for respiratory problems. “The positioning of the patient in prone position is a non-invasive technique that is used relatively frequently in the ICU and has taken on special relevance in the care of patients with COVID-19,” explains Enfermería TV about the pronation technique.
Through this technique it is possible to improve pulmonary ventilation. However, this procedure is performed manually, and given the need for ICU staff to have less physical contact with patients to avoid contagion of COVID-19, developed this technological device, with which he won the National Award for Colombian Inventor 2020.
Alejandro Vargas Gutiérrez, a physician and master in epidemiology, worked on the Robot 180° initiative to facilitate this task for medical personnel. "There was a physical exhaustion of hospital staff, because if pronating a patient of 75 or 80 kilograms is complex, imagine this procedure in areas where there are more than 20 patients."
The device works through an automatic learning system integrated into the mattress. At the bottom of the bed there is a compressor that pumps up the chambers inside the mattress, where is located the system that determines which area of the mattress should receive the air.
The device has a bar code that contains the patient's medical history, as well as their height and weight. In this way it is possible to perform the pronation from an electronic device, whether it is a cell phone, tablet or laptop.
In a matter of minutes, the mattress inflates and changes the patient's position. This technique will facilitate tasks that require greater physical effort for healthcare personnel.
