In an innovative move, Alexandra Hospital in Singapore is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and record patients’ nutritional intake. Developed by Nuvilab, a food tech startup, the AI Food Scanner analyzes each patient’s meal tray, swiftly assessing individual food consumption and nutrient intake. The hospital notes that the scanning process takes less than a second per scan, significantly streamlining the task of recording and collecting meal data for medical staff.
To validate the accuracy of the AI measurements, the hospital conducted a comparison against the nurses’ manual charting, considering the baseline of the amount of food served and the amount left by patients. The results indicated that the AI solution could track meals with an average accuracy of 95 percent. Alexandra Hospital, which is part of Singapore’s National University Health System (NUHS) and houses 326 beds, follows a 24-hour recall method to monitor patients’ consumption rates, calories, and nutrients.
Accurate nutritional tracking is crucial for the speedy recovery of patients, but the process can be time-consuming, especially when one nurse is responsible for multiple patients. The implementation of the AI food scanner has resulted in enhanced work time efficiency for nurses during the seven-week pilot phase. Encouraged by the positive outcomes, the hospital now plans to deploy food scanners across its expanding 1400-bed facility by 2028. This innovative use of AI showcases the potential for technology to optimize healthcare processes and improve patient care.
