“Access to a simulated environment, but with technology and involvement like the real clinical environment, allowed us to validate and improve the technology we are developing. The support, monitoring and feedback from the team at Hospital da Luz Lisboa and Hospital da Luz Learning Health were crucial to the success of this pilot.” Edite Ravella is the founder of SafeCaring, and the project developed by this Portuguese startup - one of the pilots registered in the Intelligent Health Platform (IHP), the Test Bed at Hospital da Luz that belongs to the National Network of Test Beds - has already ended. And “successfully!”, he adds. A success that is justified by the support received at IHP. The SafeCaring boss is not alone. Other heads of innovative projects under development at IHP agree on the reasons and are confident that their results will be similar. The Hospital da Luz Lisboa and Hospital da Luz Learning Health Test Bed is already at cruising speed, with its teams divided between innovative products from startups and SMEs already in the testing phase and the evaluation of the dozens of applications that are regularly submitted. The objective is to contribute to shortening the innovation cycle, providing the infrastructure and support necessary to carry out pilot projects for these products. And that's exactly what some of the startups and SMEs that already work with Hospital da Luz's Test Bed are talking about. Here are their testimonies. Bruno Costa, founder of Balvia Ecosystems “Balvia came to test its solution in the Living Lab environment of the Test Bed at Hospital da Luz, more specifically at Casas da Cidade - Residência Senior, which belongs to the Luz Saúde group. This pilot aimed to validate the usability and effectiveness of the smart pill dispenser and mobile app. And, to this end, we had healthcare professionals who tested our technology and provided feedback that helped us improve our product, prove its effectiveness and prepare it for the next phase of testing.” “This pilot was monitored by the Technical Director from Casas da Cidade, but also by a pharmacy technician and a medical assistant, responsible for managing and taking medication by residents.” “It was therefore possible to validate our solution in a relevant environment, reaching Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5, and also collect feedback from different stakeholder profiles for the next steps in the development of the solution.” Balvia Ecosystems develops integrated tools to increase the quality of life and well-being of its customers. It is developing an automatic dispenser with the aim of supporting elderly people in administering prescribed medications, so that they can live independently and autonomously. Joana Melo, founder of NU RISE “The Intelligent Health Platform is Hospital da Luz's Test Bed that is available to test innovative products and solutions from startups and SMEs. And NU-RISE is doing just that. He developed an innovative solution for brachytherapy, which is a form of internal radiotherapy that aims to monitor radiation delivery in real time, making treatment safer and more precise.” “Our company has made use of the Living Lab (real hospital), always with the support of the team of medical physicists from the Radiotherapy service at Hospital da Luz (HL) Lisbon”. “The Test Bed has made it possible to carry out product characterization and validation tests in a real environment, allowing the technology to be fine-tuned. The experience of the 3 medical physicists in carrying out the tests, together with the support of Hospital da Luz Learning Health in managing the partnership and planning visits, have been fundamental to the evolution of the product.” “Our pilot began in April 2024 and should end in September this year, reaching Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 with the demonstration of the technology in a clinical environment.” NU RISE is a health tech from Aveiro, which developed a solution that allows monitoring the administration of radiation in real time, making radiotherapy safer. Edite Ravella, founder of SAFECARING “SafeCaring was born at Health Hackaton 2022 - the marathon of creativity and innovation, organized by Hospital da Luz Learning Health in partnership with the National Association of Biomedical Engineering Students (ANEEB) and the National Association of Medical Students (ANEM) – where students from different courses linked to Health and Engineering proposed innovative solutions to prevent falls in hospitalized patients”. “Our solution stood out, so we decided to turn it into a product and found SafeCaring. Based on artificial intelligence, our product seeks to detect and predict falls during hospitalization, as well as supporting the nursing team in monitoring different daily activities.” “Access to a simulated environment, but with technology and involvement similar to the real clinical environment, allowed us to validate and improve the technology and the support, monitoring and feedback from the team at Hospital da Luz Lisboa and Hospital da Luz Learning Health were crucial for the success of this pilot.” “This pilot ended successfully, allowing the acquisition of images in a simulated context, which were valuable in making the algorithms behind the solution more robust.” Hospital da Luz Test Bed, Intelligent Health Platform, is a project supported by the European Commission's Recovery and Resilience Plan and the NextGenerationEU.
