Advances in information technology are creating revolutionary health care delivery options that can improve quality, reduce cost and provide patient empowerment. Located on the third floor in the CalIT2 Building, the eHealth Collaboratory is a truly collaborative space where technologists team with health care providers, patients and their families to share ideas, learn from each other and develop working prototype solutions. All facets of eHealth, including telemedicine, mobile operating systems, wireless solutions and micro- and nanofluidic devices, are on the agenda with the ultimate goal being people-centric solutions.
The Pain Buddy project, for instance, helps young cancer patients communicate and manage pain during treatment. Funded by the American Cancer Society, the app is designed for 8-to-18-year-olds and features animated animal avatars who verbally encourage the patients to use the tablet’s touchscreen interface to answer a series of questions twice daily. CalIT2’s technical professionals are leading the design.
In another collaboratory project, CALIT2 researchers are working with health care providers to develop a medical device designed to reduce prescription opioid abuse and perhaps change the way medicine is prescribed and dispensed. The device, a smart pill dispenser called PICARD (Patient Initiated Controlled Analgesic Recording Dispenser), uses IoT technology to create an ecosystem that ensures prescription opioid drugs are correctly dispensed to a patient, while tracking a drug’s use and effectiveness. Precise dispensation data also gives physicians better insight to adjust or change a prescription.
These are a couple of examples of the diverse projects being developed in the eHealth Collaboratory.
CALIT2
California Institute for Telecommunications
and Information Technology
4100 CALIT2 Building
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697
(949) 824-6900
Fax: (949) 824-8197