Innovative biomedical engineering and computational science to improve the management of critical illness in resource-limited settings

Our project’s primary objective is to provide proof-of-principle that new technology can help improve the care of critically ill patients with infectious diseases in resource-limited settings. To achieve this objective we will develop a new inter-disciplinary ‘innovations for critical care’ team within Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), a Wellcome Africa Asia Programme in Vietnam. The team will consist of Vietnamese and International clinicians, biomedical engineers, and computational scientists in OUCRU, linked to biomedical engineering groups at Oxford University, King’s College London, Imperial College London, and Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich. The team will develop and test technology with the potential to save lives and prevent disability from the common causes of critical illness in Asia. We will also investigate whether novel technologies can improve rehabilitation and long-term outcomes in survivors from critical illness. We have 4 key goals: 1: To develop new devices, or test existing devices, including point-of-care ultrasound, that will enable lost-cost capture and monitoring of key clinical and physiological variables in critically ill patients 2: To use artificial intelligence and computer-assisted and machine learning to devise clinical decision-support systems from clinical, physiological, and imaging data 3: To investigate whether interventions such as in-bed cycling and rectus femoris ultrasound can aid physical rehabilitation, and whether low-cost wearable devices can promote and predict better functional recovery after critical illness 4: To determine the current costs of critical illness care in Vietnam and to assess the potential acceptability, affordability and cost-effectiveness of the technology tested in Vietnam and similar settings.