An invention of professor Samira A. Rahimi, McGill University has been chosen as one of 11 winning projects of the contest Challenge Innovate to counter the COVID-19 Roche Canada.
Share
10 June 2020 10h42
Updated at 16.25
Share
The artificial intelligence in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus
Jean-Benoit Legault
The canadian Press
MONTREAL – A technology of remote monitoring based on artificial intelligence developed by a professor at McGill University could help curb the spread of the coronavirus in the walls of the centres long-term care for seniors.
The invention of professor Samira A. Rahimi has been chosen as one of 11 winning projects of the contest Challenge Innovate to counter the COVID-19 Roche Canada. It will be put to the test as early as next month with a sixty patients in Quebec and Ontario, for a period of three to six months.
In the two provinces, between 70 and 80 % of deaths attributable to sars coronavirus occurred in home care for seniors, recalled Ms. Rahimi.
“We wanted to find a way to identify very quickly the people who have the COVID-19 in these institutions, she explained. With artificial intelligence, we can monitor vital signs in real time.”
The program “AiCoV19: AI-empowered Real-time COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring and Prediction among Senior Residents” Ms. Rahimi uses artificial intelligence and what we call the”internet of things “medical”. Portable technologies, such as bracelets and other sensors, and computer networks are connected through the internet to generate a real-time interaction between the beneficiary and the nursing staff.
The project therefore allows you to track, monitor and predict the symptoms and the asymptomatic changes in the elderly. The device alerts the care personnel when symptoms of the COVID-19 are detected and/or predicted, and remains on the lookout for any signs of decompensation.
For example, if the data indicate a change or a deterioration in vital signs, such as a fever or shortness of breath, the intelligent system will inform the responsible.
“The data collected are automatically transmitted on the platform. Everything is done in real time, said Mrs. Rahimi. In the platform, analysing the data (…) with artificial intelligence and it can send an alarm to the nursing staff to tell him that something is not going well.”
The usefulness of the device, however, is not limited to the fight against the coronavirus, as Ms. Rahimi believes that the technology could be exploited to facilitate the maintenance of elderly at home.
“We could also use it to monitor the health of the people in them, she assured. This would be very useful in telemedicine. (…) With artificial intelligence, we can predict if something risk wrong, for example the next day or the next week.”
