Ebola Response

Date: November 6, 2014
Collaborators: Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School (HMS), FDA / CDRH, FCC, Intel, GE, US Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, IEEE, Smiths Medical, Respiratory Motion, Lyntek, Zephyr / Covidien, DocBox, Philips, US DoD / MEDCOM, US DoD / TATRC, Dräger, Industrial Internet Consortium, Qualcomm Life, LNI


Open Medical Device and Data Integration Platforms to Support the Management of Ebola

The Medical Device Plug and Play Interoperability Program (MD PnP) at Massachusetts General Hospital was asked by federal officials to rapidly identify medical technology-based solutions in support of Ebola care. Over a 20 day period, the MD PnP Program, with support by NIH/NIBIB, convened a group from government, academia and industry to prototype innovative approaches to improve patient care and reduce the risk of healthcare workers’ exposure to Ebola.

See our Ebola Project as Part of the Global City Teams Challenge

“Remotely Caring for Vulnerable Populations during a Pandemic; a challenge in 3 phases” → 

Slides from June 1 GCTC Podium Presentation → 

Building on our participation in the NIST SmartAmerica Global City Teams Challenge and in collaboration with several companies, we have developed two use cases to demonstrate potential capabilities to support Ebola care:

Quarantine: Sensor integration and data acquisition to improve Ebola screening, monitoring and diagnosis in quarantine

Hospital: Remote control, closed loop control, and remote data access to improve patient care and reduce the exposure of hospital personnel by limiting the number of times caregivers enter the patient environment to change device settings

The teams used our medical device interoperability lab “test bed” and open platform for medical device and data integration – OpenICE – to rapidly prototype technology solutions during a 3 day hackathon. The demonstrations took place on Thursday, November 6th. 

For Technical Information About OpenICE

Please visit OpenICE.info

Video summary of Nov 6th 2014 MD PnP Lab Demonstrations (6 minutes)

 Press Coverage for MD PnP Work on Ebola Response

WCBV TV article and video, November 6, 2014
Local researchers testing remote control Ebola care
PDF version

Boston Globe article, Friday, November 7, 2014
MGH team builds remote devices that could aid Ebola treatment
PDF version

Boston Business Journal, November 7, 2014
Here’s how Mass. General created an ICU of the future
PDF version

Boston Herald article and video, November 7, 2014
Doc eyes high-tech ways to fight Ebola
PDF version
(direct link to YouTube video)
Images posted to GettyImages

Telegram & Gazette, November 8, 2014
WPI explores using robots to treat Ebola
(Includes comments provided by Dr. Goldman via weblink on November 7, 2014)
Archived link
PDF version

WGBH News video, November 12, 2014
MGH’s Ebola Treatment Plan Includes Robots And Remote Controls
Archived link

MGH Hotline article, November 14, 2014
Integrated medical technology may ease Ebola’s complicated procedures
Archived link
PDF version

MGH YouTube channel demonstration summary video (6 minutes)

Collaborating Organizations

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