Zurich/Lausanne/Turin – A team from the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and Lausanne (EPFL) has developed a tracking system for hospitals together with the ISI Foundation in Turin and the ETH spin-off 3db Access. It helps to break chains of infection in a targeted manner.
Computer scientists and epidemiologists from ETH, EPFL, the ETH spin-off 3db Access from Zurich and the ISI Foundation in Turin have developed a so-called proximity tracking system for the healthcare sector, i.e. a distance measurement system. It is worn on the body in the form of a small badge and uses 3db Access' ultra-wideband radio technology to measure the distance between people in order to assess the risk of infection, especially in a hospital environment, and break chains of infection.
The solution approach of this research for the common good was tested in various environments: in the Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen (KSSG), in healthcare facilities in Africa and in two African villages. "Such applications have great potential in hospitals," says Philip Kohler, who is supervising the study on behalf of the KSSG as head physician. "If we know where and under what circumstances high-risk contacts take place, we can, for example, introduce a mask requirement in certain situations."
The system also worked well in African hospitals. In village communities in Kenya and the Ivory Coast, however, less so. There, in collaboration with the SocioPatterns group and local organizations, the team discovered that such a project must also take into account the local social fabric and social norms of the communities.
For Onicio Batista Leal Neto, a senior researcher in the Systems Security Group of the ETH Department of Computer Science, who played a key role in shaping this study, this is the main motivation: "I want my work to help ensure that underserved communities can also benefit from modern technologies." ce/mm