Article Text
Abstract
Background Delivery of acute stroke endovascular intervention can be challenging because it requires complex coordination of patient and staff across many different locations. In this proof-of-concept paper we (a) examine whether WiFi fingerprinting is a feasible machine learning (ML)-based real-time location system (RTLS) technology that can provide accurate real-time location information within a hospital setting, and (b) hypothesize its potential application in streamlining acute stroke endovascular intervention.
Methods We conducted our study in a comprehensive stroke care unit in Melbourne, Australia that offers a 24-hour mechanical thrombectomy service. ML algorithms including K-nearest neighbors, decision tree, random forest, support vector machine and ensemble models were trained and tested on a public WiFi dataset and the study hospital WiFi dataset. The hospital dataset was collected using the WiFi explorer software (version 3.0.2) on a MacBook Pro (AirPort Extreme, Broadcom BCM43x×1.0). Data analysis was implemented in the Python programming environment using the scikit-learn package. The primary statistical measure for algorithm performance was the accuracy of location prediction.
Results ML-based WiFi fingerprinting can accurately predict the different hospital zones relevant in the acute endovascular intervention workflow such as emergency department, CT room and angiography suite. The most accurate algorithms were random forest and support vector machine, both of which were 98% accurate. The algorithms remain robust when new data points, which were distinct from the training dataset, were tested.
Conclusions ML-based RTLS technology using WiFi fingerprinting has the potential to streamline delivery of acute stroke endovascular intervention by efficiently tracking patient and staff movement during stroke calls.
- stroke
- technology
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Footnotes
DZL and MY are joint first authors.
Contributors DZL is responsible for the initial study design, data collection, data analysis and manuscript drafting and revision. MY is responsible for the machine learning algorithm and important analysis, as well as manuscript drafting and revision. BT and MA-R are responsible for providing technical background and support, as well as manuscript drafting and revision. AD, HKK, JM, NK, JR, VT, AJ, RVC, MB and CB all made significant contributions to manuscript drafting and revision and have given approval for publication. HA is the supervising author who is responsible for the study conceptualization and design. He has been instrumental in the manuscript drafting and revision and has provided approval for the publication.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
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