“Smart Cities” project in Hamburg

“Some patients get a bad diagnosis from us. But it is even worse for them if they are totally ripped from their social environment,” said Professor Christian Gerlofff, Deputy Medical Director and Head of the Department for Neurology at the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, (UKE). In a project promoted by Cisco at the children’s hospital of the UKE, children with long term illnesses are given the opportunity to continue participating in their school lessons using video technology. This project is part of “Smart Cities”, which Cisco and the City of Hamburg are jointly working on. With the title “School and Health”, this specifically makes it possible for Thorben, who has been ill for a long time, to actively take part in school lessons along with his fellow classmates and teachers via audio and video transmission.


Equipped with an iPad and the video soft client 'JAbber’ installed, student Thorben can control the camera located on a trolley in his classroom. “We only have to roll the trolley into the classroom in the morning, plug in the power cable and switch on the power strip. When Thorben tunes in, we hear a quiet noise and know that he is here,” explained Christina Iserhot, Thorben’s school teacher. In fact, Thorben actively takes part in the lessons.

“It was our goal to take children out of their isolation and make it possible for them to actively take part in school lessons. If someone whispers in the background or something falls down, Thorben becomes aware of it and is capable of directing the camera toward it,” explained Till Osswald, Business Development Manager of the healthcare department for the EMEA region at Cisco. In the meantime, the pilot project was expanded to include a 17 year old student. “The experience shows that users accept and understand the technology very quickly and immediately feel included again on a social level.” The project has been developed and executed in cooperation with Avodaq, Cisco and the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital. Since then, there have been fifty registrations on the waiting list from Hamburg alone.

Particular dynamics in the field of wearables

The “Internet of Things” and “Wearables” also have the potential of becoming an essential element of networked health in the future. As part of the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM and the “WT Wearable Technologies Show” (also in the MEDICA hall 15, stand A 23), around thirty companies from the entire supply chain will show where things will be heading. Not only devices will be presented, but also the latest technologies that make these devices possible in the first place. Christian Stammel, Founder and CEO of the WT Wearable Technologies Group, particularly emphasizes the sophisticated options provided by data processing, which have made enormous advancements due to wearable technologies such as sensors. What was originally worn privately, ranging from quantified self-movement all the way to self-tracking, is going to also increasingly establish itself in the field of healthcare and replace older technologies. The spectrum of devices ranges from lifestyle products such as the Apple Watch, to intelligent glasses and hearing devices, so-called “hearables” and the latest trend – intelligent patches that continually retrieve physical data, but that can also administer medications in a minimally evasive manner.

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