If a person gets close to the patient bed, a hand disinfection is mostly required beforehand. Otherwise there is the risk that the patient or the patient environment (e.g. bedside table, blanket) will be contaminated.
This NosoEx development combines the detection of entries and exits regarding the patient zone and the hand disinfection before or afterwards.
Moreover, it can be monitored if the bed is occupied or free. This supports the management of bed capacities.
Free ICU beds are especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, this data of bed capacity is manually collected.
Sensor monitors the patient zone
We are developing a patient zone sensor for the automation of this data collection. This sensor is mounted above the bed and detects if the bed is free or occupied.
By doing so, the sensor creates a virtual zone around the patient bed. Hence, entries and exits by other persons can be monitored.
No hand disinfection beforehand?
Hand disinfection is required before and after this event according to the 5 moments of hand hygiene (WHO).
As a consequence, the movement pattern between hand disinfection (sensor at dispenser) and stay in the patient zone can be automatically detected. It should be avoided that health care workers enter the patient zone without hand disinfection before.