Students showcase software solutions

Software systems which have been developed by UCC students could have a major positive impact on patient care.
Students from University College Cork have developed innovative software systems that could change the way in which emergency units, sudden cardiac death levels and bed sores are managed across the health services.

The students from the MBS in Business Information Systems course in UCC presented their software projects at the annual BIS Innovative Software Showcase at the O’Rahilly Building, University College Cork, recently. Three of the teams showcased new e-health software – V-Sense, AcuMat and PreCG – that could have a major positive impact on patient care.
h4. Intensive care units
Vital Technology Solutions is the team developing V-Sense, a wireless sensor patient monitoring system designed to monitor patients’ vital signs in critical medical environments such as emergency departments and intensive care units.
V-Sense records and monitors a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen level and body temperature. It then sends this information to a central workstation, to software designed by Vital Technology Solutions. The user can view real-time information of the patient’s vital signs, as well as the patient’s personal details and their medical history.
The team is formed by Michael O’Flynn, Liam Lynch, Daniel Jackson and Rian O’Brien from Cork; as well as Gráinne O’Sullivan and Jamie O’Donoghue from Killarney, Co. Kerry.
“After learning that wireless sensor networks could monitor human conditions, we interviewed professionals within the medical profession to get feedback,” explained Michael O’Flynn. “Initially, we thought wirelessly monitoring patients’ vital signs might work well in GPs’ waiting rooms, but after carrying out interviews with medical professionals, they identified the emergency department and intensive care unit as having the greatest potential for our product, the V-Sense.”
The project still remains in the research and development phase but the team’s aim is to have it monitoring ECG/heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and blood oxygen levels. “There’s still an extensive amount of testing to do, such as clinical trials and testing within EDs and ICUs, and also acquiring approval, such as FDA,” he added.
h4. Thirteen die every day
The Red Cross estimates that 13 people die every day in Ireland as a result of sudden cardiac death (SCD). SensIT Solutions has created PreCG, a software that ‘black boxes’ the technology and the process of monitoring heart rhythms and allows for quick, painless, cost-effective and widespread remote heart screening of individuals so that existing conditions can be addressed, ultimately saving lives and reducing the number of people dying of SCD in Ireland.
The team consists of Gary Forde, Brenda Nelson, Shane Forde, Robert Gleasure and Brian O’Mullane, all from Cork.
“It actually began as an idea for a remote heart-monitoring infrastructure, mostly for the elderly,” explained Brenda Nelson. “But when we visited Cork University Hospital and spoke with the Senior Health Officer, she illustrated some inadequacies in existing technology and we decided then to completely change direction. By speaking to more experts across the physiology and medical fields, we’ve repeatedly refined our concept until it became the PreCG as it currently exists.”
AcuMat, the project developed by Com4Care, has been designed to assist health professionals in the management of bedsores prevention, providing patients with care and comfort. The project is based on the principle that bedsores can develop quickly, are difficult to heal, are extremely painful and need extensive and prolonged treatment. Through the use of multiple pressure sensors, the AcuMat determines the amount of time pressure is exerted on a part of the body and alerts the healthcare professional, through a graphical user interface system, to turn the patient – thus preventing the development of a bedsore.
The software has been developed by team members Kevin Kendellen, Peter O’Keeffe and Brian O’Neill, from Cork; and Denis McCarthy, from Killarney.
“Any products that currently exist in the bedsore prevention market are too expensive for the majority of healthcare institutions and this is where we believe we could make a difference by offering a lower-cost alternative,” said Peter O’Keeffe.
Despite being at the research and development stages, the projects have received very positive feedback from health professionals and companies.
MBS postgraduate students work in teams to develop innovative software products. Each team, consisting of six students, carries out a new product development exercise, which includes idea generation, market testing and financial analysis, culminating in an investment pitch.
h4. BIS Innovation Prize
The Annual BIS Innovative Software Showcase is the finale that allows the students to display their software business projects to a panel of judges that evaluate the products and awards the BIS Innovation Prize, which is sponsored by Allied Irish Bank.
The event is sponsored by UCC’s Technology Transfer Initiative. The project encourages entrepreneurial and innovative thinking, real-world business development practice and teamwork skills.