This wearable + eye tracking medical device helps patients in the ICU communicate their needs for real-time medical treatment!





The stress and impact that ICUs can have on the mental health of patients typically result in prolonged hospital stays. Troubling cycles typically ensue as soon as patients experience trauma either before entering the ICU or while they’re being treated. The trauma is usually born from the lack of communication between the patient and medical personnel or general miscommunication. Acknowledging the mental stressors within the ICU, a team of designers created SOVA, an ICU medical aid device that tracks the patient’s health progress and allows the patient to communicate their needs by simply directing their eyes.

Either before, during, or following their visit to the ICU, almost half of the patients who receive medical treatment experience some form of trauma or suffer from mental stressors that make it difficult to communicate their needs. SOVA is a medical device that tracks and registers early signs of physical or mental pain so that medical personnel within the ICU can provide the patient with proper treatment. While physical pain, insomnia, and anxiety are only a few of the stressors in the ICU, SOVA operates as a system to track these stressors for real-time support and treatment.

Comprising three main components, SOVA comes equipped with a doctor’s interface, a patient’s interface, and sensors for the patient to wear and for their interface to register. The sensors work to monitor the patient’s brain activity and sleep patterns, while an integrated camera in the patient’s interface surveils their hospital room. Through integrated eye-tracking software, SOVA allows patients to answer health-related questions and communicate their needs, which ends up displayed on their doctor’s interface. This seamless train of communication allows medical staff to act quickly and help patients out of discomfort and pain, shortening their overall stay.

Designers: Mehmet Mehmetalioglu, Mihkel Güsson, Fabian Böttcher

A curved display screen enhances SOVA’s ergonomic appeal.

The 360° arm structure allows SOVA to turn and meet the patient where they rest. 

An integrated camera tracks the visual progress of patients in the ICU.

SOVA comes equipped with speakers and easy-to-grip sides for optimal usability.









Similar to the notifications we’re used to seeing on our smartphones, SOVA sends alerts to the patients that range from future visits to health progress statistics.

Each SOVA unit also comes with a locking feature that keeps the device from turning or unhinging from its position.

Each patient also wears a sensor that tracks brain activity as well as sleeping habits.

The medical staff’s interface receives all communication from the patient’s interface for real-time support and medical treatment.

This hospital-on-wheels can travel to critical areas to immediately treat patients and victims

An ambulance’s role is to get patients to a hospital as fast as possible. While this system remains the current norm, it basically means ambulances need to make TWO trips to fulfill their purpose – to the patient, and to the medical facility. The Mobile Hospital halves that by directly bringing the cutting-edge facilities of the hospital directly to the patient. Designed for disaster-struck areas and war-torn regions, the Mobile Hospital is a complete diagnostics center and operation theater on wheels. The vehicle is roughly the size of a semi-truck, and fits all state-of-the-art medical equipment within its rear compartment. When the hospital reaches its destination, the rear compartment expands sideways to virtually triple in size. This makes its inner cabin much more spacious, allowing the hospital to effectively and efficiently treat multiple people.

The Mobile Hospital’s interiors are divided into sectors to help boost efficiency. There’s a computer at one corner for communication purposes and for reading/creating reports, a lab at another corner, a pharmaceuticals zone in corner number 3, and a treatment-bench at the last corner. This leaves enough space in the center for an operating table complete with an MRI machine and a robotic arm for precise operations. Lastly, doors on either side of the compartment allow multiple patients to be admitted and treated at the same time… unless there’s a critical case where the hospital is sealed off for high-priority treatments and procedures. When its job is done, the hospital folds back up into its compact size and transports back to its original location.

Designer: Dors Liu

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