Gamified telemedicine

POLYCARE (POLY-stakeholders for integrated CARE for chronic patients in acute phases) is an integrated telemedicine care solution enabling the remote monitoring of patients hospitalized at home (HAH).

The solution includes:

. a web portal for doctors and medical teams. It is accessible in a secured mode via a web browser, it enables them to configure the solution, to remotely monitor the health of their patients and to communicate with them.

. a mobile application for patients. It is accessible in a secured mode on a tablet and contains a reminder system for medicine, a messaging system, an agenda of medical appointments, an optional system of audioconference and videoconference, educational content and health advise. Patients can play as well simple games and are rewarded with positive feed-back and advanced game levels for using the system.

. Connected health sensors. They can measure the vital signs of patients and send the data to health professionals.

A European research project 

POLYCARE is a collaborative European research and innovation programme funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 programme.

It was designed, developed and tested from 2016 to 2018 and involved innovative technologies and methodologies:
- connected health sensors
- big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning
- gamification

As part of this project, Interactive 4D was responsible for the development of the gamified mobile application used by patients as well as their caregivers (caregivers and family members).

The solution can now be marketed and tailored to specific needs (pathologies, ages, context of use).

The POLYCARE solution is developed in English, French, German and Spanish and has been tested with patients in Germany, France and Spain.

Technical partners:

Coordination, collaborative environnement   

Data processing, AI                              

Mobile application, gamification                              

Health sensors                                                 

Clinical partners:

Germany     

Spain                 

France           

Remote monitoring of medication intake

The patient is alerted each time he has to take his medication, according to the physician’s prescription. He can choose to report to the physician he has taken the medication, ask for a later reminder or not to answer.

He can consult at any time the description of the medication and its dosage.

He may also inform the physician of an unexpected drug intake, whether prescribed or not.

An automatic monitoring system alerts the physician of any possible drug interaction.

Remote transmission of health measures

The patient is equipped with health measuring devices. He can read on the mobile application the value of the last measurement as well as the history of all its measurements. The data can also be viewed in graphical format.

The outcome measures are also sent automatically to the physician who can consult them via the Web portal.

Remote monitoring of the patient’s feelings 

Through the avatar, the physician can question the patient as to his health condition, at a preconfigured frequency.

Direct communication tools 

The physician can communicate with his patient in different ways:

- By messaging
- By sending him his visit agenda
- by audio conference
- by videoconference, subject to the patient’s agreement.

Patient education

The physician can give his patient access to an educational program consisting of multimedia materials and health advice.

Quizzes can be added to complete the reading of information and to cognitively stimulate patients.

Games and gamification

To increase the patient's interest, a puzzle game has been developed. The game is very simple and specifically suitable for the elderly and offers the choice between several difficulty levels, topics and images, thus allowing countless combinations.

The avatar plays a three-in-one role:
- As a Messenger, it forwards the physician’s messages and collects those of the patient.
- Aa a Guide, it informs and assists the patient through the application.
- As a Motivation coach, it congratulates the patient for his answers and rewards him for his use of certain functionalities (reading of medical information programs, answers to health questionnaires, etc.).

The patient can choose at any time between a male or a female avatar.

A customizable solution

Polycare is an integrated telemedicine solution that can be entirely customized.

Although the solution has been developed for a specific target (elderly patients with chronic cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases and hospitalized at home) and with specific health sensors, it is possible to include:

- Additional health sensors
- Educational programs tailored to other pathologies
- Other types of games and gamified interactions suiting different patient profiles (age, pathologies, health status ...).

Polycare is based on the most recent international standards for security and data exchange standards (HL7). It makes it possible to adapt the Polycare solution to any existing information system.