Bernardus Thio appointed professor at UT

As a paediatric pulmonologist, Thio has specialised in treating children with lung diseases. Traditionally, these children are evaluated in hospitals and tests are performed in hospital-based laboratories. New technologies can change that. “With the rise of health tech, such as handheld devices and wearables, we can monitor outside the hospital,”  Thio explains. “That allows us to follow trends over time and measure and clinically assess when a child actually has symptoms.” According to Thio, this provides a more realistic clinical picture of a patient’s daily life, enabling earlier detection of deterioration and appropriate clinical anticipation.

Digital care also generates large amounts of data from home measurements, sensors and digital questionnaires. Analyzing these data is one of the key challenges in eHealth. “Those datasets contain valuable insights about clinical relevant patterns , but it’s difficult for healthcare professionals to get a grasp on all these data ,” Thio says. “Artificial intelligence can help us discern trends and patterns and translate them into useful information for clinicians and patients.” At the same time, he stresses that new technologies must always be carefully validated before being used in clinical practice. Research facilities within the TechMed Centre play an important role in testing whether devices are reliable enough for healthcare.

Thio’s dual role at Medisch Spectrum Twente and the University of Twente enables close collaboration between clinicians, researchers and engineers. “In the hospital we are fully aware, which issues need to be improved,” he says. “Working together with UT allows us to develop and test new technological solutions that can actually be implemented in healthcare.” With his professorship, Thio aims further to expand the use of digital care in paediatrics and help keep healthcare accessible and efficient in the future.