THE UP College of Medicine SIBOL (UPCM Surgical and Biotechnology Innovation Laboratory) was among the first to prepare UP Manila to respond to the growing COVID-19 epidemic.  Among the initiatives was repurposing the RxBox telemedicine device for telemetry to monitor COVID-19 patients.   

The RxBox Device: Finding benefit across the country for over a dozen years
The RxBox was developed by UP Manila National Institutes of Health National Telehealth Center (NTHC) and the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI) of the UP College of Engineering in 2007 with the support of the DOST PCHRD.

Originally intended for trauma care, RxBox and Telehealth proponent Dr Alvin Marcelo, showed that the patient’s vital signs can be detected by the device and transmitted in real-time in a telemedicine system of an emergency room. Collaborating closely in this project was electronics engineer Dr. Luis Sison who was UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research at that time.  The RxBox Telehealth project was among the initiatives under the UP System Emerging Disciplines program.        

The RxBox-2 evolved to be a tool for rural health units (RHUs) in remote and disadvantaged communities in the country.   As a community medicine faculty, Dr Portia Marcelo of the NTHC, working with Dr. Sison, spearheaded its deployment to strengthen maternal and child heath as well as care for non-communicable/cardiovascular diseases. The RxBox sensor suite expanded to include a Doppler for fetal heart tone and a maternal tocometer, in addition to the original capabilities for ECG, pulse oxymeter, thermometer, and sphygmomanometer.   

The research demonstrated the seamless exchange of a patient’s clinical and physiologic data between the UPM-developed Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS) electronic medical record system, the RxBox diagnostic device, and the National Telehealth System (NTS) platform; thus allowing teleconsultation with clinical specialists from the UPCM-PGH.

RxBox-Telemetry for COVID-19 Care
Dr. Nathaniel Orillaza and Dr GeoHari Hamoy of the UPCM SIBOL are tapping the RxBox for COVID-19.  Work is being initiated to extend RxBox as a telemetry device in PGH which would be its third iteration. Data from RxBox sensors will be displayed in real-time on nurse station monitors, thus decreasing contact between patients and clinical team.  Drs. Hamoy and Orillaza and other UPCM-PGH clinicians are now working closely with the electronics engineering team of Dr. Sison as well as a software engineering team led by Dr. Prospero Naval, professor of Artificial Intelligence at the UP Diliman.  Deployment is expected within the next two weeks as the PGH COVID wards fill up with patients.  

Multidisciplinary work has been a mantra of UP. This COVID-19 pandemic makes collaboration a natural recourse.

Dr. Portia Fernandez-Marcelo  |  Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 2