Singapore General Hospital to adopt AI-powered tool for proper wearing of PPE

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) will soon deploy a digital tool from New Zealand to ensure the proper wearing of personal protective equipment before entering an isolation facility.

The hospital partnered with Blue Mirror to adopt its PPE Instructor tool, which was customised to enable automated guidance and checks based on SGH's PPE protocol. 

The AI and cloud-based tool transforms a tablet computer into a digital mirror. It is mounted on a tripod, making it easy to be transported around areas of need with easy access to PPE supplies. 

Since the solution was based on a non-Asian population and PPE used in Australia, it was tweaked to recognise Asian features and a range of skin tones and then tailored to suit SGH's needs.

The customised solution comprises three modes – the PPE Buddy, Train and Practice, and Visitor, which have been validated by about 200 staff and hospital visitors. PPE Buddy guides staff in the proper wearing of PPE; the Train and Practice mode is for staff's refresher training; and the Visitor mode provides step-by-step audio guide-and-check to hospital visitors before entering an isolation ward.

In the future, the hospital could still customise the Blue Mirror PPE Instructor for disease-specific protocol, contact tracing purposes, and image recognition for staff access, according to Ang Shin Yuh, deputy director of the SGH Nursing Division.

Fujifilm to open 2 more NURA health screening sites in India

Fujifilm Corporation is set to open two more NURA health screening centres in India.

The first NURA site was opened in Bangalore in February last year. It is equipped with the company's imaging devices and AI-based IT systems for diagnosis support. 

According to a press statement, new sites will open in Gurugram on 21 July and in Mumbai by September.

It is said that the NURA centres are able to complete health checks in about 120 minutes and provide results to patients right after screening.

The upcoming sites will allow users to check screening results on their smartphones. These will also have a workflow that uses a wristband with a QR code to manage the progress of each visitor.

"The company will continue to establish new NURA sites to further expand its health screening service business in emerging countries, Fujifilm said in a statement.

VinUniversity, University of Illinois open biotech, data science research centre in Vietnam

VinUniversity, a private university in Vietnam, has set up a research centre focused on biotechnology and data science together with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

The VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC) will "develop affordable and widely accessible smart health technologies to increase the efficiency of healthcare systems and support early diagnostics and treatment".

Specifically, VISHC will support the development of point-of-care devices, remote care and diagnostics, wastewater epidemiological surveillance, and federated machine learning in precision medicine.

"Biotechnology and data science are the two central fields of this century. We want to focus on developing innovative healthcare solutions that can be used to serve millions of people globally," noted Minh Do, VISHC director and honorary vice provost of VinUni.

The Vingroup, which runs VinUni, has provided $13.5 million in funding to the newly established research centre. 

VISHC is the first among research centres that VinUni plans to establish together with its partner scientists and universities around the world. 

India's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms sets up digital health accelerator 

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), a life sciences technology hub under the Indian Department of Biotechnology, has launched a digital health accelerator programme to identify, fund, and fast-track startups working on technologies that improve health outcomes.

The India Digital Health Accelerator (IDHA) will nurture emerging digital health technology innovations which aim to improve the affordability, access, and quality of healthcare delivery at scale in India.

"The IDHA programme will look towards enabling solutions that digitise screening, monitoring and telehealth for faster diagnosis, better patient surveillance and improved healthcare delivery for large populations not only in India but also beyond," C-CAMP CEO and director Dr Taslimarif Saiyed further explained.

The programme will offer pre-acceleration seed funding, 360-degree advancement for six months with customised one-on-one support, business growth, international expansion, mentorship opportunity, a platform for technology showcase, and post-acceleration funding opportunities.

Based on a press statement, the NASSCOM Center of Excellence for IoT and AI will join IDHA as a technology partner while PATH and the Center for Digital Health of the Public Health Foundation of India will serve as knowledge partners. The Ministry of Electronics and IT Start-up Hub, through its SAMRIDH scheme, and the US-based DigiLife Angel Fund are reported to participate in pre-acceleration investment activities.