SCREENswitch: Switchable Opacity Patient Isolation Systems

由于COVID-19，许多人被隔离在医院，如果大流行持续下去，这种情况将持续到未来。使用隔离屏是隔离病人最卫生的方法之一，但它们受到不透明或透明的限制。这两种选择都是必要的，因为患者需要隐私，但也不能让他们感到完全与世隔绝；有充分证据表明，长期孤立对患者的心理健康有负面影响。因此，在医院被隔离的病人需要有隐私的选择，并能够看到病房的其他部分。屏幕开关是一项可行性研究，目的是了解智能玻璃是否可以用于创建可伸缩的医院屏风。智能玻璃可以在点击按钮时从不透明切换到透明。这将改变病房内病人隔离的方式，让病人控制他们的环境，最大限度地减少对他们精神健康的压力。目前，还没有一种解决方案可以让一个清晰的感染控制屏幕在触摸按钮时变得不透明。相反，为了保护隐私，必须在透明屏幕旁边使用外部产品。这些产品，如窗帘，通常是不卫生的，不方便使用。最令人担忧的是，NHS医院使用的90%的窗帘是由一次性聚丙烯制成的，每隔几个月就会被焚烧或填埋，这对环境造成了破坏。与UCLH合作，SCREENswitch将通过创造一种易于清洁、因此可重复使用的产品，帮助建立一个更可持续的公共部门，最终可以用一种创新的、可持续的替代品取代医院的一次性窗帘。这将有助于NHS从COVID-19大流行中恢复过来，并实施更好的隔离系统，以防止传染病在医院进一步传播，并减少未来隔离对心理健康的影响。KwickScreen在设计、制造和向医院销售可伸缩隐私和感染控制屏幕方面拥有十多年的经验。该公司的屏幕可以在英国的每个NHS信托机构及其等同机构中找到。SCREENswitch将与智能眼镜的专业生产商合作。这两家公司都是本地公司，它们将共同开展这项可行性研究，并在随后进行开发，以创建一个可切换的不透明隔离系统。

Many people have been put into isolation in hospitals due to COVID-19 and this will continue into the future if the pandemic persists. Using partition screens is one of the most hygienic ways to segregate patients but they are limited by the fact that they are either opaque or transparent. There is need for both options, as patients require privacy but also must not be left to feel completely secluded; there are well documented negative mental health impacts on patients who have undergone extended periods of isolation. There is therefore a need for patients who are isolated in hospitals to have both the option of privacy, and to be able to see the rest of their ward. SCREENswitch is a feasibility study to understand whether Smart Glass, which switches from being opaque to clear at the click of a button, can be used in creating retractable hospital screening partitions. These would transform the delivery of in-ward patient isolation, giving the patient the control over their environment, minimising the stress on their mental health. Currently, there is no solution that allows for a clear infection control screen to become opaque at the touch of a button. Instead, an external product must be used alongside the clear screen to allow for privacy. These products, such as curtains, are usually unhygienic and inconvenient to use. Most worryingly, 90% of curtains used in NHS hospitals are made of disposable polypropylene, disposed of by incineration or landfill every few months, which is damaging the environment. Working with UCLH, SCREENswitch would help lead to a more sustainable public sector, by creating an easy-to-clean and therefore reusable product that can ultimately replace single-use curtains in hospitals with an innovative, sustainable alternative. It would help the NHS recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and implement better isolation systems to prevent further spread of infectious diseases in hospitals and reduce the mental health effects of isolation in the future. KwickScreen has over a decade of experience in designing, manufacturing and selling retractable privacy and infection control screens to hospitals. The company's screens can be found in every NHS trust and their equivalents in the UK. SCREENswitch will work with a specialist producer of Smart Glass. The two companies, who are both local to each other, will work together to carry out this feasibility study, and later development, of creating a switchable-opacity isolation system.