- Current projects
- Completed projects (see below)
Data sharing ecosystem for AAL technology and the development of standards, guidelines, and certifications
UbiLab is working on a study to understand what Active/Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) or IoT for Healthcare technology companies are using as policy guidelines and standards in the creation of their products and services. Ultimately, this study will highlight the gap between what is currently available for innovators in terms of data security, privacy and encryption, and what should be developed to ensure that AAL technology is designed to ensure benefits to patients and the healthcare system through safe technologies.
The Canadian Personalized Health Information Network (CPHIN)
Personalized care is the future of health treatment and research. Integrating health and genomic data is the key to unlocking this potential. The UbiLab and the Waterloo Health Information Systems and Technology Lab (WHISTL), in partnership with Roche Canada, are developing the Canadian Personalized Healthcare Innovation Network (CPHIN). In partnership with their physicians, CPHIN integrated data network will help patients tailor their own health decisions.
Healthy Behaviour Data Challenge
The Healthy Behaviour Data Challenge explores behavioural patterns to enable remote healthy behaviour monitoring using sensor data from smart-home technology. This project aims to enable the UbiLab Public Health Surveillance Platform (UPHSP) for population-level surveillance to monitor health behaviour.
Evaluation of emerging technologies for environment and health applied to the Pan Canadian Monitoring and Surveillance System
In collaboration with Health Canada a report was written on the latest up-and-coming technologies in the fields of environment and health for Pan-Canadian monitoring and surveillance systems leveraging novel technologies in December 2018. The UbiLab team completed a literature review and developed unique use cases for the use of technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, environmental sensors and alert systems that combined environmental and health data, as well as included recommendations and proposed data architecture for the technologies. The completed report, Climate Change and Health: Overview of Blockchain and Internet of Things was delivered to Health Canada in March 2019.
The future of health IoT in smart cities for supporting healthy aging
Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs put out a call to Ontario researchers for proposals to support and enrich the development of the Master Innovation and Development Plan for Sidewalk Toronto in August 2018. The UbiLab submitted a proposal to Sidewalk Labs to complete a scan of the most promising in-home and in community technologies (IOT/Hardware/Software) related to sustaining health / healthy lifestyles and delivering health care services.
Audio recognition of activities of daily living using IoT
This project is a collaboration between Ubilab and the University of Technology of Compiegne. The purpose is to monitor the daily living of elderly people by using a commercially available smart home solution.
Uroflowmetry
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) comprehends a series of symptoms that affect both storage and voiding phase of micturition. Our goal is to develop and evaluate the use, usability, and clinical value of an app-based uroflowmetry system that patients could potentially take home, enabling flow to be measured noninvasively and more frequently.
Development of a real-world evidence data infrastructure - the CARE Platform
The UbiLab and the Waterloo Health Information Systems and Technology Lab (WHISTL), in partnership with Roche Canada and the University Health Network (UHN), are developing the CARE Platform (Clinical Analytics for Real-World Evidence). The “CARE” platform will serve as a central hub for researchers that includes integrated and sophisticated data analytics, access control, security and study management tools to curate data for research and clinical purposes.
Data driven and persuasive design of DashMD
The UbiLab is working with Dash MD on the design and evaluation of their mobile health technology leveraging data-driven design and persuasive design. Dash MD is a mobile platform that is recommended to patients by frontline care providers during their visit to the hospital emergency department.
Leveraging AI to predict emotional states with UpBeing mobile data
In today’s fast-paced world, emotional well-being is increasingly recognized as a critical aspect of overall health. The increase in mental health issues highlights the need for innovative solutions to monitor and enhance emotional well-being. This research project addresses this need by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict emotional states through the UpBeing data. UpBeing is designed to improve emotional intelligence and mental resilience, integrating passive behavioral data with science-based check-ins to show how daily activities affect mental health.
Dashboarding for complex datasets: a human-factors approach
Big data is changing the way data assessment is done. The challenges in dealing with complex datasets are present throughout the whole data pipeline, especially in the healthcare domain. Technical limitations (e.g. database structure, programming language, etc.), as well as ethical implications (e.g. privacy and consent), impose constraints, creating siloed databases, and, therefore, making it technically hard to integrate and combine information. Ultimately the main goal, from a healthcare standpoint, is to achieve a holistic understanding of the patients’ condition.
Scaling mHealth and wearable technology in Canada
Scaling mHealth and Wearable Technology within the Canadian public healthcare system is a very complex issue that involves various stakeholders. There are certain gaps associated with the perception of risk when it comes to ideating, prototyping, deploying certain healthcare focused technologies. Academic research on commercialization factors behind mHealth and the use of wearable technology is relatively a new field, and there is significance behind defining and further understanding this part of the healthcare system as this is where the future of healthcare is going to head towards.
Thinktum
Social isolation is having a significant impact on the quality of life, physical activity, and sleep patterns of our population. While self-isolation and social distancing provide the most successful method for limiting the progression and spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19, we often overlook the impact of these rules on our population. In this project, our research team aims to develop a data ecosystem to use consumer-level technologies such as fitness trackers and wearables to support public health decision making.
Dynamic consent interoperability resources
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for rapid implementation of nation-wide public health interventions and access to personal data from the general population for academic and industry research. Personal data is any information collected from a data subject's devices (e.g., smartphones, sensors) that can reveal their identity. This research aims to create a Dynamic Consent Standard (DCS) describing data formats and elements (Resources), and an Application Programming Interface (API) for exchanging dynamic consent information between research stakeholders.
Designing contact tracing apps as persuasive technologies to make them more effective
The adoption of current contact tracing apps (aka, exposure notification apps) aimed to combat COVID-19 has been low and slow. The research investigates the potential effectiveness of leveraging persuasive strategies to motivate users to carry out specific behaviors or actions that are vital to curbing the spread of the coronavirus, e.g., downloading, installing and using the app, self-isolation if users receive an exposure alert, report of COVID-19 diagnosis if users test positive.
Accelerating virtual care through COVID-19
This research study aims to identify opportunities to bridge the gap between underutilized virtual care services, through the acceleration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop recommendations for how the use of virtual care services can effectively be sustained.
Privacy and trust in healthcare IoT data sharing: A snapshot of users' perspectives
This study will review the existing literature to understand the main concerns related to data sharing and what leads an individual to trust or not trust the organization in the process of sharing their personal health data. Along with the literature review, three surveys/online studies will be used to understand user concerns and fears when sharing their data through IoT devices or mobile apps.
Usability of mHealth applications in immigrant populations
This project focuses on improving the usability of diabetes self-management applications for immigrant populations. This project uses the diabetes mobile application, bant II, as a primary testbed to identify the barriers preventing immigrants from using these self-management applications. Using this data, the project aims to improve the cross-cultural usability of diabetes self-management applications and inform future mHealth application design for immigrant communities.
Commercialization pathways for mHealth technology
UbiLab is currently working on a scoping review combined with interviews to understand the commercialization landscape relevant to eHealth and mHealth use in Canada. In the recent few years, eHealth and mHealth focused apps have been growing at a significant rate and that has bought in unique set of challenges in a knowledge-driven economy like Canada. This study will help to further identify those challenges and the kind of opportunities can come out of it from the discussion.
Real-time analytics platform
Through a collaboration with the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network (UHN) with Dr. Joseph Cafazzo, we are developing a platform that can deliver real-time insights on the usage of the mHealth and eHealth technology, in combination with associated health outcomes.
Developing apnea detection algorithms for Studio 1 Labs SmartBedsheet
The UbiLab is supporting Studio1Labs in the design and evaluation of a vital signs and sleep monitoring technology using their proprietary smart fabric technology. This project aims to validate and test the novel functional bedsheet through a clinical study to collect data for assessment, in comparison to various clinically validated sensors (Hexoskin and pulse oximeter).
Mobile health platform for population-level health surveillance
In Public Health, surveillance is defined as the ongoing collection, analysis and dissemination of data to improve population health. Ultimately, this project will help to decrease costs and improve logistics, allowing researchers access to large and diverse participants. In addition, special attention will be paid to usability issues concerning older populations, so that they can benefit from the solution and be encouraged to keep track of their health, sustaining a healthy behaviour and lifestyle and gracefully age in place.
Smart predictive analytics for Hill-Rom's data ecosystems
A pioneer in medical technology, Hillrom specializes in patient diagnostics and recovery and has designed the Centrella Smart+ bed. The bed is equipped with a suite of sensors (pressure, monitor, etc.) and data pertaining to healthcare delivery and patient safety. The overall objective of our current partnership with Hillrom is to improve the capabilities of the Centrella Smart+ bed to increase patient safety by leveraging its current suite of sensors.