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Erasmus Medical Centre, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is an international leading academic hospital with a mission for a healthy population and to pursue excellence in healthcare through research and teaching. Erasmus MC is a public organisation. In 2021 Erasmus MC had 659,317 outpatient visits. Erasmus MC posted a financial result of €46 million in 2021. Sustainability is visibly on the move at Erasmus MC and the subject is gaining broader support. For example, several Green Teams have been set up in the departments.
Patients are required to travel to the hospital for blood sampling, which sometimes necessitates the assistance of family or friends. Outpatient travel represents a substantial portion of patients’ travel distances. By enabling home-based blood sampling, patients will have the flexibility to draw blood at their convenience. This reduces productivity loss associated with time away from work and eliminates unnecessary travel.
In-hospital blood sampling affects a wide range of patients, including those who require frequent monitoring of blood levels for chronic diseases, oncology patients undergoing treatment, and patients needing blood tests for other medical reasons. Given that approximately 60% of the Dutch population is diagnosed with at least one chronic disease, a painless home-based blood sampling device has the potential to improve the healthcare experience for a significant proportion of the population.
The motivation to solve this issue is to improve the healthcare experience for patients by implementing a painless home-based blood sampling device. By introducing this innovative solution, key challenges associated with in-hospital blood sampling are addressed.
Furthermore, hospital visits for blood sampling can have a negative impact on patients’ well-being, as the need for in-hospital follow-up visitations can evoke distress and anxiety. By shifting the sampling process to the comfort of their homes and allowing patients to draw blood outside office hours, patients gain a sense of control. This could reduce the stress associated with hospital visits. The flexibility empowers patients to take an active role in their healthcare by providing them with the option to collect blood samples at a time that best suits their schedule.
By overcoming the barriers associated with in-hospital blood sampling and introducing a painless home-based alternative, the approach can revolutionize the way blood samples are collected. The motivation behind this effort is driven by the desire to improve patient outcomes, enhance well-being, increase convenience and patient involvement, and reduce the environmental impact of unnecessary travel.
Ailin is a diagnostics-as-a-service platform that enables the diagnosis and monitoring of key health parameters from home through self-sample kits and a cutting-edge diagnostic support platform.
The proposed solution aims to address the challenges associated with accessing lab tests and to improve the patient experience. The aim is to co-develop and co-create a pioneering blood extraction device, setting new standards in painless extraction, environmental impact and enabling the retrieval of large blood volumes. This innovative device is focused on optimizing the sampling process to minimize errors and ensure accuracy, improving patient satisfaction and facilitating an end-to-end diagnostics project.
Patients will benefit from convenient, flexible, and painless testing, transforming healthcare with superior outcomes. The device integrates into a holistic diagnostic solution, comprising an at-home lab testing kit and results platform. Through this collaboration, the aim is to revolutionize healthcare, enhance patient outcomes, and empower self-care from the comfort of home.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement 101071212.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
