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Silent ICU

A collaborative innovation

An innovative solution leveraging seamless interoperability to enhance alarm management in the ICU. By reducing noise and improving workflow efficiency, our Silent ICU contributes to a more comfortable patient environment and a more effective workspace for caregivers.

The challenge

Excessive noise and disturbances in the ICU can negatively impact patient rest, recovery and well-being. It can also increase stress and alarm fatigue for clinical staff, with the risk of missing critical alarms. This can lead to a range of problems for patients, staff, and the effective running of the ICU, including:

  • Sleep disturbance and delirium: A lack of restful recovery can increase pain, prolong hospital stays and cause delirium, which can lead to long-term cognitive impairment.
  • Stress and anxiety: High noise levels can cause stress and anxiety, which can lead to increased blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate, and an overall negative impact on patient outcomes.
  • Increased risk of patient harm: High noise levels and alarm fatigue can lead to carers' desensitization to alarms, communication failures, errors, and care delays.
  • Decreased patient, family and staff satisfaction: Noise can negatively impact the overall patient and family experience in the ICU, and can be a challenging working environment for staff.

The Silent ICU solution

With active alarm management at its core, the Silent ICU solution, jointly developed by Ascom, Dräger and B. Braun, is designed to help reduce noise pollution and alarm fatigue to provide a better healing environment, patient care and working environment.

The Silent ICU solution seamlessly, automatically, and securely transfers data between devices and management systems based on international standards such as ISO/IEEE 11073 SDC.

The solution enables alarms to be transferred to the Ascom-distributed alarm system. Alarms are visualized on one or several dashboards that can be located at the nurse station and where teams need them. In addition, actionable alarms are simultaneously routed to the right caregiver at the right time. Meanwhile, at the bedside, the medical device alarms remain silent, which significantly reduces noise levels in the ICU.

Download the Silent ICU solution brochure to learn more

To discuss implementation, fill out the form below or contact your local Ascom representative.
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SDC - Service-Oriented Device Connectivity

SDC (Service-Oriented Device Connectivity) is revolutionizing how medical devices and hospital IT systems communicate—securely, reliably, and across manufacturers. Built on the ISO/IEEE 11073 standard, SDC enables seamless, two-way data exchange, supporting smarter clinical decisions and safer patient outcomes.

Silent ICU solution is real with Dräger and B. Braun

The solution enables alarms to be transferred to the Ascom-distributed alarm system. Alarms are visualized on a dashboard at the nurse station. In addition, actionable alarms are simultaneously routed to the right caregiver at the right time. Meanwhile, at the bedside, the medical device alarms remain silent, which contributes to a quieter ICU environment. 

The Silent ICU solution jointly developed by Ascom, Dräger and B. Braun is designed to support patient well-being and comfort while helping to ease staff workload and manage resources efficiently. A quieter, calmer ICU heralds a new era of healthcare excellence by minimizing noise pollution, contributing to less alarm fatigue, and promoting seamless interoperability between medical systems.

Healing care and smarter workflows through safe alarm distribution

SASICU – Smart Alarms and Silent ICU Research

As part of the European research program SASICU (Smart and Silent ICU), Ascom plays a significant role in making intensive care units smarter and quieter. Supported by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), the project seeks to mitigate alarm fatigue and improve clinical decision-making through seamless medical device interoperability. Ascom collaborates with partners, including Dräger and several prominent university hospitals across Europe, conducting two studies associated with this initiative.

One study, executed jointly with Erasmus Medical Center, Dräger, and B. Braun investigates the advantages of Silent ICU based on standardized interoperable medical technologies. Ascom's Silent ICU solution is designed to allowing the silencing of bedside alarms and evaluate alarm relevance based on clinical data, thereby fostering a tranquil patient environment while ensuring clinicians remain informed of actionable alerts.

By utilizing the SDC standard, Ascom aids in establishing an open and secure ecosystem that empowers healthcare professionals in their decision-making processes and enhances patient comfort and safety.

A further project at Universitair Medisch Centrum, Utrecht, centers on evaluating alarm significance and actionability through the utilization of intelligent algorithms implemented in Ascom solution.

Securing hospitals’ path towards smarter, silent ICUs

There are good reasons why many hospitals dream of smarter, silent ICUs. One, they contribute to better patient outcomes. Two, they make for better, more efficient working environments for busy caregivers. That’s why Ascom is currently part of two high-level projects co-funded by the EU—projects devoted to bringing smarter, silent ICUs closer to reality. Learn more from Paolo Burchietti of Ascom’s Global Solutions team.

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Silent medical alarms

Acknowledgement

This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No. 101132808. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and COCIR, EFPIA, Vaccines Europe, EuropaBio, and MedTech Europe.

Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union, private members, and contributing partners of the IHI JU. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned parties. None of the aforementioned parties can be held responsible for them.

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