Transforming Paediatric Care 2017, the fifth annual innovation event, was held at SickKids on Dec. 5.

The day was packed full of original and inspiring ideas in health care, from keynote addresses, a panel discussion, a plenary talk, seven breakout sessions, seven Six Sigma Green Belt poster presentations, 29 speakers and 37 exhibitors. There were 200 registered attendees and 80 to 100 drop-in visitors in the Exhibition Gallery throughout the day. This was the largest innovation expo we have ever held at SickKids!

While the expo is now in its fifth year, the organizers did some innovating themselves, rebranding the conference this year as TPC 2017 to highlight the contribution of external partners, and moving it to the PGCRL where there was more room for participants, exhibitors, and breakout sessions.

"TPC 2017 brought people together, from across the health-care innovation ecosystem, to share and celebrate new ideas in health care," says Jeffrey Kang, Project Manager, Process Improvement and Innovation. "SickKids is well-positioned to be a leader in paediatric innovation and organizations, from both the private and public sector, are eager to partner with us to deliver high value solutions for patients and families."

Visitors to the Exhibition Gallery got to see some high-tech innovations for paediatric health care​​first-hand. Some organizations shared their virtual reality (VR) systems, an innovative way to provide support for children. The teams of Dr. Clyde Matava at SickKids and Dr. Fahad Alam at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are currently working together on several VR studies in the SickKids VR lab, Collaborative Human Immersive Interactive Laboratory (CHISIL), located in the PGCRL. VR technology has several uses, including reducing pre-op anxiety levels for kids aged six to 18 years going into surgery. Imagine being able to go on a 3D 360-degree tour of the pre-op, OR, and post-op units just by putting on goggles and headphones.

A participant tries out the VR goggles provided at the CHISIL exhibit

"Kids coming in for surgery can have a high level of anxiety," says Dr. Monica Caldeira-Kulbakas, Department of Anesthesia and CHISIL. "We can help to diminish this anxiety by showing them this immersive 360-degree VR video. If we diminish anxiety pre-op, there will be better post-op outcomes for the patient."

Brianne Lowe, Production Supervisor, Shaftesbury, and Azadeh Kushki, Holland Bloorview, demonstrate their VR system 

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is also using VR in their Autism Research Centre, conducting a pilot study with 30 children with autism starting in January 2018. Their VR experience will allow children with autism, many of whom have significant anxiety in new situations and social settings, to practice living through a situation before they do so in real life. Working with the entertainment production company Shaftesbury, Holland Bloorview researchers have created an immersive reality of the interior of a school bus to prepare children with autism for this particular social setting. "The system will identify triggers they are experiencing and then adapts the virtual experience to gradually desensitize its user to those triggers," says Azadeh Kushki, scientist in the Autism Research Centre at Holland Bloorview.

The Children's Orthotics Clinic at SickKids has recently acquired a 3D scanner and new software to fabricate custom braces for their scoliosis patients.  "A 3D scan of the patient can be done in 30 to 60 seconds, as compared to 40 minutes to make a plaster mold," says Andrea Fung, Certified Orthotist. "We can map out the brace on screen before creating it, as opposed to hand modifying a plaster cast, which can take up to four hours. We hope to improve efficiency to allow us to accommodate more patients in the future."  

The Children's Orthotics Clinic displays devices with custom transfers chosen by patients (on table)

​3D scanning has provided many benefits to our patients and staff alike by improving patient experience and making our workplace environment safer. Another technology the clinic has acquired is a printer for custom transfers. Linda Lui, Certified Orthotist, says: "We can also do custom transfers for all of our devices we fabricate, which can make them much more enjoyable for our patients to wear."

​
3D heart models used for surgical training

SickKids cardiac radiologist Dr. Shi-Joon Yoo had several of his anatomically accurate, 3D printed heart models on display. His team started printing the hearts in 2009 and has provided over 300 3D print models for hands-on surgical training courses at SickKids and at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery since 2015.  Surgeons can get training on various heart defects without putting the patient's life at risk. "We plan to distribute the surgical simulation models throughout the world so that surgical skill level can be enhanced worldwide," says Shi-Joon. 

Low-tech and lovin' it

But sometimes innovations aren't technologically based, but just reflect a shift in our thinking. The shift can create a simple and fresh solution to an old problem. Take the example of Diagnostic Imaging (DI): their challenge is always to keep children calm and still during imaging such as MRIs without having to use general anesthesia. Enter Lucy, an 11-year-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, who is a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog. She is part of the Animal Assisted Therapy program; while this is a long-standing program at SickKids, it was just implemented in DI this past year. 

Lucy and her handler Joanne Somers

The Instavations display celebrated SickKids innovation; over 65 images and descriptions of brilliant ideas from front-line staff which have been implemented all over the hospital. The planning of the new medication room on unit 8A used a low-tech planning process: working with Facilities and Process Improvement, the staff on 8A designed the space by drawing a map of the space on the wall and then spending a week doing various cardboard mock-ups of different configurations to find the work flow that worked best.​

​
From left: Mel Cundari, PT student, Anne Hunt, Manager, onTRACK program, Moria Rutheralingam, OT student 

The onTRACK program at Holland Bloorview (HB) on concussion management offers an immediate service for those waiting eight to ten weeks for the only OHIP-funded concussion clinic in Ontario, also at HB. The innovation? Offering six weeks of concussion care, with University of Toronto occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and kinesiology students delivering the programming. "We have served 570 kids in the last 18 months," says Anne Hunt, manager of the onTRACK program. "The kids relate well to the students and also get immediate help in dealing with concussion."

"As we heard from our afternoon keynote speaker, innovation isn't always about high-tech, high-cost solutions, and in fact can be done without costing a dime," says Lindsay Clarke, Project Manager, Process Improvement and Innovation.​ "Incubating ideas, and finding like-minded individuals who share your passion for innovation and making a difference is a good place to start. We all have the capacity to innovate, by asking the right questions to develop a deep understanding of the problem we are trying to solve, and most importantly, which came up as a theme throughout the day, by involving our end users (patients and families) when developing solutions."

Make sure you don't miss out on TPC 2018! 

Posted by Jane Kitchen