eHealth
Sepsis is a syndrome caused by an infection and leads to organ failure and death. In the US, sepsis is responsible for almost half of all in-hospital deaths. Mortality also increases with the degree of severity of sepsis. In addition, patients with sepsis spend an average of 75% longer in hospital compared to other conditions. Importantly, the timing of sepsis diagnosis is strongly related to survival. It is therefore a serious condition that requires a rapid and multidisciplinary approach, both within hospitals and in the wider community.
However, within hospitals it is observed that vital parameters that may indicate incipient sepsis are not consistently and adequately recorded in the electronic patient file (EPD). Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) is a clinical condition that may precede sepsis. Many hospitals have an Early Warning Scoring (EWS) system in which certain of these SIRS criteria are systematically measured. A critical aspect of this current situation is the manual completion of parameters to determine SIRS, e.g. respiratory rate, which poses a significant hurdle to the accurate recording of vital parameters in the EPD. This aspect highlights the urgent need for automated and standardized systems for recording vital parameters, including respiratory rate, to improve the quality of care and reduce the impact of SEPSIS.
The proposed project aims to address sepsis with a holistic and multidisciplinary approach that supports healthcare providers and integrates new technologies to improve the detection and treatment of SEPSIS. In concrete terms, S.E.P.S.I.S. Connect tackles the 4 major challenges needed to detect SEPSIS more quickly in patients in Belgium:
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Equipping patients with biosensors with the aim of monitoring them more accurately and continuously regarding the risk of sepsis.
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The development of smart alarms, specifically tailored to the sepsis case, with the aim of supporting nursing staff in the large-scale follow-up of patients.
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Setting up a safe and reliable connectivity solution that enables hospitals to continuously monitor patients both in the hospital and outside.
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Better awareness of SEPSIS among general practitioners and home nurses in order to register and/or monitor patients more quickly via the developed monitoring solution.
This project is funded by the FOD and is a collaboration of the following partners: AZ Groeninge Kortrijk, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Sint-Jozefskliniek Izegem, Proximus NXT, imec.