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Leading global infrared and thermal imaging company, Irisys, will be showcasing its Smart Infection Prevention technology at this year’s Healthcare Innovation Expo.
Reducing the risks posed by healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) is an integral part of providing safe, high quality healthcare. Irisys’ intelligent technology aims to support hospitals in meeting this challenge by enabling healthcare facilities to increase hand hygiene compliance and optimise cleaning practices.
The risk of acquiring a HCAI is a universal problem for healthcare facilities. Many factors contribute to this, but contamination of hands and surfaces are known to play a crucial part in the spread of healthcare associated pathogens.
Hand hygiene is the most effective single measure to prevent such transmission and to improve patient safety. Compliance is often sub optimal, influenced by many factors such as equipment, time constraints, but also importantly, behaviour.
Multimodal improvement strategies are therefore needed and providing performance feedback is pivotal, not only to change behaviour but to sustain this change.
Environmental cleaning is also an essential intervention in helping to prevent infection. Enhanced cleaning has been shown to reduce both environmental contamination and decrease the incidence of hand carriage, an important factor since touching contaminated surfaces forms part of the cycle of transmission. Aligning actual usage of an area with cleaning schedules will enable tailored servicing of areas, helping to create a safer environment.
Irisys utilises thermal sensing technology, which aims to help build an understanding of the levels of hand hygiene compliance, as well as being able to measure footfall. The technology detects heat emitted from people and can determine both their presence and direction of movement. Intelligent algorithms then allow the technology to interpret human behaviour, providing valuable data and management information relating to true levels of hand hygiene compliance and actual usage of areas.
Irisys has been supported by the Department for Health, National Institute for Health Research (NiHR), Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme, to help provide a solution to drive improvements in hand hygiene.
Tony Dunn, Programme Director and Anne Macmillan, Irisys Health Business Development Director will be on stand at Health Innovation Expo discussing the opportunities made available to the health industry through Irisys’ technology.
