From people watching them fly, to pink gifts, to a demo ambulance where you can build with LEGO. A walk around the Zorg & ICT exhibition floor shows once again just how diverse the healthcare innovation landscape is this year.
Catching butterflies
On the exhibition floor, visitors wearing glasses make strange movements in the air with their hands. In a Mixed Reality they have to catch butterflies and bring them to the right flowers. Holomoves gives a whole new dimension with this Mixed Reality software, says Christine de Wit. "Think especially of geriatric and dementia patients who can use this for very functional rehabilitation. They are reactivated thanks to this software. Also patients in wheelchairs can catch butterflies."
According to De Wit, eight rehabilitation centers are already using Holomoves’ Mixed Reality technology. The results of this are currently being studied, De Wit explains. “We currently have a research project underway. What we’re already seeing is that the intensity of the patients’ exercises is increasing without them even realizing it. We’re finding that implicit learning sticks better.”
Plenty of presents
One of the eye-catchers at Care & ict is Momo Medical's booth. A huge pile of pink gifts and bunches of presents surround a hospital bed. Mike van Wieringen of the relatively young company Momo Medical, winner of the National Care Innovation Award two years ago, explains that the gifts represent a new functionality in the Momo Bedsense App. This app allows care workers in inpatient elderly care to better organize their work by remotely checking how residents are doing. As a result, they need to make fewer rounds, and experience less workload. This form of e-health also offers advantages for the elderly. They get more rest because they are less disturbed.
Starting this summer, the app will gain a new feature. Care staff will then be able to locate assistive devices within senior care facilities—such as wheelchairs or patient lifts that colleagues have set down somewhere. Thanks to a small blue transmitter button attached to the assistive devices, staff can quickly locate them using the app. The feature has been tested and refined, and will be launched after the summer. “Then we’ll implement the feature in a playful way at the care facilities,” says Van Wieringen. “We’ll hide gifts that they can then find using the Momo app.”
According to van Wieringen, the new functionality was truly developed in collaboration with healthcare workers. “Often, IT professionals decide what the healthcare sector needs. We, on the other hand, determined that together with the employees. We focus on what they really need. We’re obsessed with healthcare.”
Winning wheelchair
In addition, the Ezer, the stand-up wheelchair, with which J58 won this year's National Care Innovation Award, was much in demand on the exhibition floor. This fully mechanical wheelchair, with a unique standing function, works on the basis of smart gas springs that are tuned to the weight of the user. With this wheelchair, the user can both stand and move around in a standing position. Thijs den Engelse of J58 explains how the idea for this wheelchair came about. "A friend of our CEO ended up in a wheelchair after an accident and wanted to stand again. He developed a prototype. To work that out better and he came to us. The Ezer is the first product we developed. We have now sold the first three Ezers, and are now going to approach more hospitals, rehabilitation centers and private companies."
IT First Aid
PQR offers IT first aid. The company that also describes itself as a "rest maker in IT" is on the exhibition floor with a real ambulance. In front of it, people are creating dolls with lego. Fiona Soomer explains how the conversation originates. She and colleague Pim Roest in the ambulance show how they, together with partners, offer a whole IT system for healthcare institutions. "We show the digital workplace of the future for the doctor and nurse. With the demo ambulance we drive past events, but also past customers on location."
For example, a doctor logs in to a workspace in the morning. The digital work environment—which contains X-rays, for instance—can be accessed throughout the day from various workstations thanks to a Tap&Go system on a wide range of devices, from tablets and phones to wearables used during surgery. “By eliminating IT hassles, doctors and nurses can focus more on the work that really matters—you end up with more hands at the bedside.”
A platform without vendor lock-in
Software provider IQ Messenger keeps a close eye on trends in the healthcare sector. Their vendor-neutral open platform helps healthcare institutions integrate multiple systems and associated protocols into a single application. “That’s really our strength,” says marketing manager Femmy Reijnders. “We aren’t locked into any specific vendors because we can integrate with anything. This allows us to effectively respond to trends such as AI video detection and personal security.”
“We’re exploring how we can use labor-saving technology with our open platform,” continues Eloy Holster, head of sales. “The advantage of our platform is that you can immediately apply the latest innovations without first having to install other apps on your smartphone or deal with complicated adoption issues.” The open platform also offers added value in the case of mergers, Holster notes. “For example, when nursing homes merge, you see that different facilities use different brands. That makes it difficult for staff to share information. By using a single, uniform interface, they can collaborate more easily.”
Visitors won’t be able to score any freebies at the IQ Messenger booth. “They just throw them all away anyway,” says Femmy Reijnders. “We’re serving coffee with stroopwafels. And on the Wednesday of the fair, we always have our bartender mixing blue cocktails and mocktails. So, unfortunately, you missed out on those. Be sure to plan this tour for Wednesday next year!”
