What role will hardware play in new developments in healthcare? What challenges are involved?During an event in Leuven, Belgium, we will discuss We gained a unique insight into “The Encounter of Wear.”
IT is a key innovator in healthcare. However, in medical practice, there remains a large mismatch between the importance of technology and the knowledge about it. Gratienne Sioncke, founding executive director of BORGinsole, points out that this discrepancy was already occurring during her student days. She speaks from her own experience with trainees. “We find that trainees take time to adapt to technology, especially in the first few weeks. There are very technological aspects of our workplace that are not covered in education.”
Mr Sionke's experience illustrates areas for improvement in the Belgian education system and medical training. BORGinsole has a manufacturing lab in Rotselaar, but the product is available for purchase in more than 200 podiatry clinics across Europe.
Leuven is a hotbed of technological development
Shifting focus to the IT world, a significant number of companies know how to create value in healthcare. Approximately 30 percent of Leuven's innovations are aimed at this area. BORGinsole is one of those companies where healthcare and IT intersect. The company develops insoles for (elite) athletes based on 3D scanning. Production processes are a mix of digitalization, automation and robotization. Sioncke describes this as a “careful decision” as production requires precision. However, this was also done out of necessity due to the lack of technicians capable of taking on this job in the medical field.
Those with healthcare training may not be immediately looking for a future job in a manufacturing environment. But beyond that, it won't take long for these professionals to be exposed to technology.
UCLL Hogeschool students offer the example of a nursing home specifically for people with dementia. Studies have shown that long-term memory is often intact in these patients. Students try to tap into that memory using the “dementia harp.” It's no secret that technology and older people usually don't mix well, so using the harp is easy. Just touch one of the tubes to operate it. Your personal memories in the form of photos, videos, or audio will start playing automatically.
According to researchers, the harp improves the lives of people with dementia on several levels. When memories come to the surface, a person regains thoughts from a previous life and it becomes easier to talk to family members. This also addresses another problem that people with dementia sometimes struggle with: social isolation.
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patient comes first
To develop the harp, the students spent a week at the Tolmarien residential care center in Genk. This gave us insight into the challenges faced by people with dementia and care staff. By being in the field, they learned what healthcare means to patients. In the tech scene, that's often a bigger challenge. Development there often has other motives, such as financial gain.
Jan Vermeer, president of the Young Parkinson's Disease Federation, talks about the rather painful gap between IT innovation and patient well-being. In Flanders, the disease affects tens of thousands of people. Vermeer is one of them. In addition to the challenges of living with Parkinson's disease, he and other patients also face challenges with technological tools. Devices that improve lives and patients trust. However, in some cases, the manufacturers of these devices decide to focus on new editions for financial gain and take away the support.
Similar to upgrading a phone, these patients may think they can replace their device with a newer edition. In a medical setting, this is a little more complicated. Vermeir gives an example. “People who use deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices cannot upgrade to newer versions. The brain is not suited for having new wires inserted every year.”
The world of technology can learn from the healthcare industry the importance of putting patients and users first. Your knowledge of the world of technology in the healthcare field may also improve. In this way, hardware and healthcare benefit patients, but also pose challenges to both sectors.
Another IT challenge for healthcare organizations is security. The healthcare sector is becoming an increasingly popular target for ransomware criminals
