Mobile mesh tech deployed in care homes in bid to stop COVID-19 spread – Med-Tech Innovation | Latest news for the medical device industry
Wyld Networks has signed an agreement with Highland Health Ventures Ltd (HHVL) to test and deploy its mobile mesh technology into care homes in Scotland to help protect residents, staff and visitors and prevent the spread of COVID-19 or other viruses.
HHVL is an independent company with a collaboration agreement with NHS Highland for the purpose of developing innovations in healthcare.
The Wyld technology will provide digital access and anonymised social distance monitoring and alerting through a mobile app and a mesh wireless network of connected smartphones and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Wyld and HHVL have already started the first project for implementation in a care home in Scotland, while the technology may also have broader applications in helping other businesses get back to work.
Frances Hines, research, development and innovation manager in NHS Highland, said: “Supporting innovation across the healthcare system is more important than ever and will be central to securing transformation and improved care. Creating the conditions for more collaborative approaches to innovation and enabling the adoption of cost-effective new technologies will be key, and we are pleased to be working together with Wyld and HHVL to deliver innovative potential solutions for care homes.”
The Wyld system can create virtual geozones around the care home and particularly sensitive or quarantined areas to control access as well as dynamic personal two-metre geozones around everyone with the app.
All staff and visitors will have to download the mobile application and input COVID-19 test results and enter any symptoms into a self-diagnostic algorithm embedded in the application to create a risk profile. Residents without a smartphone could be given electronic wristbands or similar.
Anyone approaching a geozone will be sent a message instantly to let them know if they are allowed to enter. By using Wyld’s real-time data analytics platform, care home managers will be able to contact and advise anyone who has been in close contact with someone who is tested positive with COVID-19 or develops symptoms.
Wyld Network CEO, Alastair Williamson, said: “Our mesh technology was originally designed for applications such as major sporting events, music festivals, retail centres and transport hubs to deliver relevant, location-aware information. But it quickly became clear that our Wyld mesh could play a vital role in protecting residents, staff and visitors in care homes, hospitals and hospices. We hope the system created with Highland Health Ventures will provide a model that can be adopted more widely to deal with the current crisis, as well as deliver post-COVID benefits.”