Funding for innovation project to develop 'the patient room of the future'

Ably Medical has previously developed a smart hospital bed with an integrated sensor system, as well as the 'Lyng' sensor mat. The main aim of the 'patient room of the future' innovation project, which is now receiving partial funding from us, is to implement and validate a technological solution that brings sensor technology into hospitals.

'Solutions like this are part of the answer to the healthcare sector's need to improve health services while freeing up staff time. In the longer term, Ably Medical's solution could serve hospitals, nursing homes and home care services,' says our CEO Håkon Haugli.

In Europe alone, there are 6 million hospital beds, 3.6 million nursing home beds and 10.7 million patients who need long-term care, most of them in their own homes.

'With the growing shortage of healthcare professionals across the Nordic region, there is a pressing need to streamline workflows without compromising the quality of healthcare and patient care. Digitalisation and the automatic collection of patient data have enormous potential to free up healthcare professionals' time. Nurses should be able to spend their time caring for patients rather than dealing with protocols, records and reports,' says Mikkel Ingstrup, CEO of Ably Medical.

Ably Medical has an opportunity to digitalise every hospital bed through its unique sensor technology and the ‘Ably Hub’ connectivity solution. The hub will bring together data from IoT solutions and other sensor technologies on a single platform, collecting high-quality data from both patients and processes. It could provide a vendor-independent route for bringing new technology, equipment and apps into hospitals.

'Today, there are many fragmented solutions, but no approved solutions that can combine data from multiple sources and sensors. Our ambition is to develop a solution that unlocks the benefits of digitalising something found in every hospital: the hospital bed,' says Ingstrup.

Ably Medical AS was founded in 2016. Our aim is to provide data-driven, predictive patient care that reduces the burden on nurses and other healthcare professionals. We currently have employees in Ålesund, Oslo and Munich.

'For Møre og Romsdal, this project is important for several reasons. It also supports our strategy to develop new industries – in this case, health technology, which currently has a limited presence in our region,' says Helge Gjerde, our Regional Director for Møre og Romsdal.

- We have worked with Ably for several years, so we are especially pleased to help make projects like this a reality.

The project will be carried out in close collaboration with three hospitals in Norway and Germany, and the solution will be developed in partnership with Italian hospital bed supplier Malvestio. The solution will be designed to integrate with third-party solutions, enabling highly flexible functionality.

The project will include developing the technical solution, testing it in hospitals, conducting a clinical study focused on documenting its effects, and developing best practice. The project's total budget is NOK 34.36 million.