A device developed at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) https://www.casail.mit.edu has enabled a clinical team to monitor a COID-19 patient’s breathing, movements and sleep patterns remotely using wireless signals.
The CSAIL’s team’s device called “Emerald” has been used in multiple hospitals and assistive-care facilities including with a COVID-19 patient at the Heritage Assisted Living in the Boston suburb of Framingham.
Developed by MIT Professor Dina Katabi and her research group at CSAIL, Emerald is a Wi-Fi-like box that analyzes the wireless signals in the environment using artificial intelligence to determine vital signs, sleep, and movement.
After obtaining consent, the Heritage facility installed Emerald in one of their patients’ room where the device was able to noninvasively monitor the patient’s health and then report the data to her doctor who was sitting at home.
The doctor was able to remotely track the patient’s progress by looking at metrics like breathing and walking speed. Emerald can also help detect other respiratory problems that would otherwise go unnoticed such as when a patient also suffers from anxiety and insomnia problems.