Development of a Smart Hand Gel Dispenser for Hospital Watch Live

Every year 250,000 Canadians suffer from Hospital-Acquired Infections, also known as “superbugs.”  Of these, 8,000-12,000 die. We know that one of the most effective measures to slow the spread of these superbugs is also the simplest: good hand hygiene. Yet, hand-hygiene compliance rates in hospitals are as low as 40%.

The objective of this project is to develop a “smart” hand gel dispenser that will work with Infonaut Inc’s Hospital Watch Live (HWL) software solution for infection control in health care settings. The gel dispenser will be incorporated into the real time location system (RTLS) sensor network of HWL. Infonaut Inc. is a Toronto SME created following the 2003 SARs outbreak. They specialize in developing software solutions for infection control in health care settings. The project will be completed in collaboration with Sonitor Technologies, a manufacturer and supplier of ultrasound identification technology for RTLS. This is an NSERC-CCI funded project that involves rapid prototyping, software integration, and the development of a smart gel dispenser for manufacturing. Once completed the gel dispenser will enable HWL to produce reports for health care settings on hand hygiene compliance within units and for the entire facility. Thus, assisting health care settings improve their compliance rates and ensure best practices.