A San Diego-based consortium of healthcare and technology organizations has been nominated for a federal grant to develop a wireless device capable of constantly monitoring Ebola patients, Scripps Health announced Friday.
The Sensor Technology and Analytics to Monitor, Predict and Protect Ebola Patients program led by the Scripps Translational Science Institute is designed to result in wearable, wireless health sensors and a wireless vital signs monitoring platform.
Technology that can monitor and analyze multiple vital signs of patients either suspected or confirmed to be infected with the Ebola virus will also be part of the device.
Continuous monitoring of individualized health data will help doctors intervene earlier for people with suspected cases of Ebola and, for confirmed cases, allow them to immediately detect changes in a patient's condition, according to Scripps Health.
"The new approach will provide unprecedented visibility into a patient's physiology that we believe will be invaluable in improving care in minimizing risk of exposure during an Ebola virus outbreak," said Dr. Steven Steinhubl, director of digital medicine at Scripps Health. "This will open the door to being able to identify warning signs very early on, when potentially lifesaving care can be provided."
The group includes medical device-makers Sotera Wireless and Rhythm Diagnostic Systems, and physIQ, a creator of physiology analytics technology.
The grant being sought is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development in conjunction with the White House Office of Science and Technology, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense. The amount of the grant and decision date have not been announced.
According to the CDC, last year's Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the worst ever, with more than 14,000 confirmed cases and nearly 9,300 fatalities. The outbreak also led the first cases of the disease in the U.S.
