Smart Oxygen Monitoring in Hospitals: A Pilot Study during COVID-19
We are pleased to share information about a significant publication in the journal Nature, presenting the use of IQRF technology for smart oxygen monitoring in hospital environments. The study, titled Smart Oxygen Monitoring in Hospitals: A Pilot Study during COVID-19, was conducted by a team of authors from VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, namely Jan Velicka, Martin Pies, Radovan Hajovsky, Katerina Barnova, and Radek Martinek.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 revealed serious deficiencies in hospital safety, with an increase in fires and explosions related to oxygen use. The study focused on developing and testing a smart monitoring system based on IoT IQRF technology, capable of detecting increased oxygen concentrations and preventing fire risks.
How does the monitoring system work? The system consists of wireless sensors that measure oxygen levels at regular intervals and send the data to a database. In case of exceeding predefined thresholds, alerts are automatically sent to hospital staff via SMS and email. The system was deployed and tested under real hospital conditions, demonstrating high accuracy (±1%) with low energy consumption (345 μA per minute measurement).
Future and improvements Testing has shown that the monitoring system is an effective tool for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Future plans include expanding to additional hospitals and integrating with existing hospital information systems. To maintain high reliability, regular calibration and sensor replacement every two years is recommended.
Conclusion The use of IQRF technology in this field confirms its high flexibility and reliability for deployment in critical environments such as hospitals. We are proud to be part of a solution that contributes to protecting human lives and improving healthcare.
The full study is available here: www.nature.com
The results of this study are one of the outcomes of the project: KITR - Comprehensive Innovation of Transceiver Modules for Wireless Mesh Networks and International Competitiveness, co-financed with state support from the Czech Technology Agency under the FW10010287 programme. This project was funded under the National Recovery Plan from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility.
