The stress and impact ICUs can have on patients' mental health typically results in extended hospital stays.
Problem cycles typically occur as soon as patients experience trauma. This happens before entering the ICU or during treatment.
And the trauma usually arises from a lack of communication between the patient and medical staff or from general communication problems.
SOVA gives voice to those who cannot speak
By recognizing the mental stressors within the ICU, a team of designers created SOVA, an intensive care medical care device that tracks a patient's health progress and allows him or her to communicate their needs simply by moving their eyes.
Before, during or after the ICU visit, nearly half of patients receiving medical care experience some form of trauma or mental stress that makes it difficult to communicate their needs.
SOVA essentially tracks and records the first signs of physical or mental pain, so that medical staff within the ICU can provide the patient with adequate treatment.
With physical pain, insomnia and anxiety being just some of the stressors in the ICU, SOVA works as a system to monitor these and other stressors for support and treatment in real time.
How SOVA is made, the precious help for intensive care
Consisting of three main components, SOVA is equipped with a clinician interface, a patient interface and sensors that the patient can wear. Sensors work to monitor the patient's brain activity and sleep patterns, while a camera integrated into the patient's interface monitors his hospital room.
Similar to the notifications we are used to seeing on our smartphones, SOVA sends alerts to patients ranging from future visits to health progress statistics.
Through the integrated eye tracking software, SOVA allows patients to answer health-related questions and communicate their needs. The communication is displayed on the clinician interface in the ICU room.
This seamless flow of communication allows medical personnel to act quickly.
