Automated hand hygiene monitoring system using imagery and bluetooth low energy sensors

Soliman, Ahmed (2018) Automated hand hygiene monitoring system using imagery and bluetooth low energy sensors. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (4MB)

Abstract

This thesis designs and implements a hand hygiene monitoring system using Bluetooth low energy and imagery sensors. As the cost of treating healthcare-associated infections increases, the need for monitoring and improving hand hygiene compliance percentages for healthcare providers increases. Several techniques for hand hygiene compliance monitoring exist, but it was found that electronic automated systems are the most reliable solution because they provide more accurate continuous compliance measurements for lower cost. Other similar systems based on a variety of technologies exist, however, they are either uniquely evidence based, so that they capture hygiene moments and apply a statistical model for hygiene opportunities, and they, therefore, do not provide real-time information; or they require human interference to determine compliance rendering them not fully automated. In this thesis, available monitoring techniques, focusing on automated electronic systems, are first introduced. Then, a novel automated hand hygiene monitoring system, capable of capturing hygiene moments with more than 90% precision, is proposed. The proposed system was first tested in a lab environment with private rooms setup, the system was also tested in semi-private rooms setup and then implemented in the Hematology and Oncology Department at the Health Sciences Center of Eastern Health for a pilot study. The study showed a high correlation between the compliance rates calculated by the proposed system compared to the compliance rates found by direct observers.

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