The Children's Hospital at Westmead trials COVID-19 e-Gate

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has trialled an Australian-first COVID-19 e-Gate integrated entry screening system developed by the University of Sydney and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.

Tested earlier this year, and with potential for rollout for COVID-19 variants or reconfiguring for other infectious diseases, the e-Gate provides an efficient screening and contact tracing process before people enter hospital.

Dr Audrey P Wang, a researcher in biomedical informatics and digital health from the University of Sydney, said the system uses a personalised QR code for physical gate-enabled access based on a combination of evidence-based COVID-19 screening questions and temperature checks.

“Our COVID e-Gate utilises near real-time data analytics to provide the latest available screening information,” said Dr Wang, from the University’s Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health.

The Digital Health Innovation (Collaborative) Lab, the team behind the project, has bagged the Health Award for its “COVID-19 Smart IoT Screening System Pilot at Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network” at the [Internet of Things] IoT Alliance Australia’s 2021 IoT Awards.

The project is a Westmead Health Precinct collaboration between the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health, Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture, Design and Planning and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, which is part of Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. It represents a multidisciplinary collaboration facilitated by the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases.

In front of the e-Gate from right to left: Dr Audrey P Wang, lead investigator; Kate, a hospital volunteer; Jennifer Daly, nurse unit manager; Jichao Leng, PhD Student; Dr Soojeong Yoo, design investigator; Jose Parada, student intern.

Michael Dickinson, Director of information, communication and technology at Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, said the system had been trialled by more than 1500 staff and regular visitors over the past eight months.

“Not only does the e-Gate have the ability to be easily expanded to other hospitals, but the Internet-of-Things smart approach to health screening could be useful in other large locations — such as airports and major sports or entertainment venues,” Dickinson said.

Images supplied by the University of Sydney.