The Health Hub is grounded in the growing intersection of informatics and health. We work on important health informatics topics such as digital health interventions for physical and mental health, assistive and accessible technologies, algorithmic diagnostics and modelling of complex medical data. Within this, the hub also looks at the privacy, security and explainability concerns surround digital health interventions. Our multidisciplinary activities not only connect academic groups within the Department of Informatics, but also link Informatics to multiple Departments, Divisions and Health Partners across the College. The overall objective of the Health Hub is to advance our fundamental understanding of technology-enabled health and its capabilities.
Research
Key research activities in the Health hub address:
- Application and development of user-centred design approaches to envision, design, and evaluate digital health interventions
- The accessible design of digital health technologies for those affected with disabilities coinciding with, or related to, health challenges
- Algorithm development for learning in supervised and unsupervised biomedical data analysis, algorithms for data sharing, modelling and simulation of biological processes, sequence analysis for genomic data and health data collection via social networks
- The application of robotic technology to healthcare and medical interventions
- Development of AI systems for mental health diagnoses and treatment
People
Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
Lecturer in Computer Science
Lecturer in Autonomous Systems
Professor of Computer Science
Vice-Dean (People & Planning)
Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence (Academic Education)
Projects
Data Awareness for Sending Help (DASH)
The Data Awareness for Sending Help (DASH) project examines new types of data that could inform ambulance services’ computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, to help them better respond to emergencies. The project is a collaboration between the Policy Institute at King’s College London, the Centre for Robotics Research in the Department of Informatics at King’s, and the London Ambulance Service.
A Clear Road Ahead (ACRA)
Clearing landmines saves and improves lives in numerous different ways. Demining can help a community access agricultural land, markets and food supplies, schools, hospitals and other essential services, through the clearing of transportation links and routes. By clearing anti-personnel (AP) and anti-vehicle mines (AVMs) from roads and fields, people and communities can be reconnected, and this can bring huge socio-economic benefits to developing countries where these are most needed. Clearing AVMs from roads can also be a prerequisite for other aid agencies and government services to access remote communities. It restores freedom of movement and fosters freedom from fear. However, efforts to clear roads and fields from the threat of landmines are complicated by two issues: 1) the slow speed of current demining approaches particularly for certain classes of landmine; and 2) the need to prioritise the order in which different areas and land types are cleared for maximum benefit in the shortest possible timeframe. We propose a project to tackle both of these issues, creating a new technological tool for detecting landmines alongside a methodology for examining cultural, political, and socio-economic factors at the national, district, and even community levels. This approach can guarantee the deployment of the technology for the greatest possible benefit in the shortest possible time. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that a combined strategy of this kind has been attempted. The particular target of the project is minimum-metal AVMs laid in roads and fields, which is a class of landmines that is very difficult to detect by other methods, and thus very slow and costly to clear. Beyond this synergistic approach, the project will benefit from the unique advantages of our proposed technology for the clearance of AVMs. This is because our sensor relies on a frequency-sensitive detection of the explosive material, which is contained in large quantities in anti-vehicle mines. The sensor's underlying technology is based on a quadrupole resonance (QR) approach, which relies on a simple detection mechanism: a pulse or series of radiofrequency (RF) pulses is applied at a particular frequency for the explosives of interest, and the presence (or absence) of a return signal is sought. As with metal detectors, a specially-designed planar RF antenna is placed close to ground level and fed with a sequence of RF pulses at or close to the QR frequency of the explosive to be detected. The same antenna is then used to detect the weak signals emitted by the explosive following the excitation. The important difference from metal detection is that it is the actual explosive contained within the mine that is detected and not any feature of the mine (such as the casing or the trigger), so the false alarm rate is low. This is particularly important for humanitarian demining, which aims to clear most, if not all, of the landmines in the interrogated terrain.
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GCRF Prosthetics
This project explores the feasibility of integrating a low-cost sensing system based on textile technology to 3D-printed prosthetics to propose a limb replacement solution for amputees in the developing world. In the project, textile electrodes developed at King’s College London are used with an electromyography (EMG) signal acquisition system associated with the Touch Hand (an affordable robotic prosthesis) developed at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Current high-end prosthetic hands in the developed world have shown their potential to have performance similar to the human hand. However, the best solutions are often too expensive for patients in developing countries. The Touch Hand has been developed to propose a solution suitable for the developing world market with a modular design. As an interface between the human body and the device, electrodes play a major role in myoelectric prostheses. Single-use gel electrodes are the state-of-the-art interface as it is the best solution for high quality bio-signal recording, but they could present an issue in the developing world due to their cost in regular replacement, and the expertise needed in using them. The embroidered textile electrodes are here presented as an affordable alternative, and we are testing their use for gesture recognition in hand myographic prosthetics for control of different grasps. They are sewn with a programmable sewing machine using stainless-steel conductive thread and they present many advantages: they are flexible, reusable, washable, and easy to produce. The aim of complementing low-cost prosthetics with textile electrodes is to propose a solution that can be built in developing countries, requiring a low amount of raw materials and no technical knowledge to assemble. It will also encourage the production in these countries and the creation of employment in the textile and technological industries.
Ericsson 5G Tactile Internet Lab
From specialist oncology to simple ailment diagnosis, a large percentage of the world’s population cannot reach or afford the healthcare professionals that they need to treat them. It's the nature of disruptors, however, to look at a challenge differently to everyone else. After all, the world's problems are only difficult to solve if you play by the world's rules. That's how lead innovators and researchers at the Ericsson 5G Tactile Internet Lab in King's College London, supported by Ericsson technology and infrastructure, have addressed the urgent need for better global healthcare. Using cutting-edge 5G network infrastructure in combination with the world's most advanced surgical robotics, the team at King's College has created the ability to allow the remote transfer of haptic, tactile, audio and visual technologies. This enables a surgeon or doctor to perform a diagnosis or even surgery on a patient anywhere in the world.
Microbes in Allergy and Autoimmunity Related to the Skin (MAARS)
MAARS is an EU-funded, international and multi-centre study that explores the nature and duration of microbial stimuli and associated changes in the epithelial barrier, that leads to the development of skin-related allergy and autoimmunity. Two disorders of the human skin – atopic dermatitis and psoriasis serve as models for investigation to look into the programming of the immune system, and how it develops allergic or autoimmune inflammation. The aim of the study is to identify microbe-host-interaction networks involved in the development and persistence of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. The project will pave the way for progress in prevention, new diagnostic strategies and treatment options for allergy and autoimmunity related skin diseases.
5G Communication Automotive Research and innovation (5GCAR)
5GCAR (Fifth Generation Communication Automotive Research and innovation) is a H2020 5G PPP Phase 2 project funded by the European Commission.
CONSULT
Using wellness sensors to support patient decisions in managing their healthcare. The overarching goal of the CONSULT (Collaborative mObile decisioN Support for managing mULtiple morbidiTies) project is to establish the feasibility of employing a collaborative mobile decision-support system to help patients suffering from chronic diseases with multiple morbidities self-manage their treatment.
Student-led research workshops for improving “sense of belonging” in BME students in PhD programmes
This project will focus on improving a sense of belonging for BME students by pairing students in groups to foster relationships
Publications
People
Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
Lecturer in Computer Science
Lecturer in Autonomous Systems
Professor of Computer Science
Vice-Dean (People & Planning)
Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence (Academic Education)
Projects
Data Awareness for Sending Help (DASH)
The Data Awareness for Sending Help (DASH) project examines new types of data that could inform ambulance services’ computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, to help them better respond to emergencies. The project is a collaboration between the Policy Institute at King’s College London, the Centre for Robotics Research in the Department of Informatics at King’s, and the London Ambulance Service.
A Clear Road Ahead (ACRA)
Clearing landmines saves and improves lives in numerous different ways. Demining can help a community access agricultural land, markets and food supplies, schools, hospitals and other essential services, through the clearing of transportation links and routes. By clearing anti-personnel (AP) and anti-vehicle mines (AVMs) from roads and fields, people and communities can be reconnected, and this can bring huge socio-economic benefits to developing countries where these are most needed. Clearing AVMs from roads can also be a prerequisite for other aid agencies and government services to access remote communities. It restores freedom of movement and fosters freedom from fear. However, efforts to clear roads and fields from the threat of landmines are complicated by two issues: 1) the slow speed of current demining approaches particularly for certain classes of landmine; and 2) the need to prioritise the order in which different areas and land types are cleared for maximum benefit in the shortest possible timeframe. We propose a project to tackle both of these issues, creating a new technological tool for detecting landmines alongside a methodology for examining cultural, political, and socio-economic factors at the national, district, and even community levels. This approach can guarantee the deployment of the technology for the greatest possible benefit in the shortest possible time. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that a combined strategy of this kind has been attempted. The particular target of the project is minimum-metal AVMs laid in roads and fields, which is a class of landmines that is very difficult to detect by other methods, and thus very slow and costly to clear. Beyond this synergistic approach, the project will benefit from the unique advantages of our proposed technology for the clearance of AVMs. This is because our sensor relies on a frequency-sensitive detection of the explosive material, which is contained in large quantities in anti-vehicle mines. The sensor's underlying technology is based on a quadrupole resonance (QR) approach, which relies on a simple detection mechanism: a pulse or series of radiofrequency (RF) pulses is applied at a particular frequency for the explosives of interest, and the presence (or absence) of a return signal is sought. As with metal detectors, a specially-designed planar RF antenna is placed close to ground level and fed with a sequence of RF pulses at or close to the QR frequency of the explosive to be detected. The same antenna is then used to detect the weak signals emitted by the explosive following the excitation. The important difference from metal detection is that it is the actual explosive contained within the mine that is detected and not any feature of the mine (such as the casing or the trigger), so the false alarm rate is low. This is particularly important for humanitarian demining, which aims to clear most, if not all, of the landmines in the interrogated terrain.
GCRF Prosthetics
This project explores the feasibility of integrating a low-cost sensing system based on textile technology to 3D-printed prosthetics to propose a limb replacement solution for amputees in the developing world. In the project, textile electrodes developed at King’s College London are used with an electromyography (EMG) signal acquisition system associated with the Touch Hand (an affordable robotic prosthesis) developed at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Current high-end prosthetic hands in the developed world have shown their potential to have performance similar to the human hand. However, the best solutions are often too expensive for patients in developing countries. The Touch Hand has been developed to propose a solution suitable for the developing world market with a modular design. As an interface between the human body and the device, electrodes play a major role in myoelectric prostheses. Single-use gel electrodes are the state-of-the-art interface as it is the best solution for high quality bio-signal recording, but they could present an issue in the developing world due to their cost in regular replacement, and the expertise needed in using them. The embroidered textile electrodes are here presented as an affordable alternative, and we are testing their use for gesture recognition in hand myographic prosthetics for control of different grasps. They are sewn with a programmable sewing machine using stainless-steel conductive thread and they present many advantages: they are flexible, reusable, washable, and easy to produce. The aim of complementing low-cost prosthetics with textile electrodes is to propose a solution that can be built in developing countries, requiring a low amount of raw materials and no technical knowledge to assemble. It will also encourage the production in these countries and the creation of employment in the textile and technological industries.
Ericsson 5G Tactile Internet Lab
From specialist oncology to simple ailment diagnosis, a large percentage of the world’s population cannot reach or afford the healthcare professionals that they need to treat them. It's the nature of disruptors, however, to look at a challenge differently to everyone else. After all, the world's problems are only difficult to solve if you play by the world's rules. That's how lead innovators and researchers at the Ericsson 5G Tactile Internet Lab in King's College London, supported by Ericsson technology and infrastructure, have addressed the urgent need for better global healthcare. Using cutting-edge 5G network infrastructure in combination with the world's most advanced surgical robotics, the team at King's College has created the ability to allow the remote transfer of haptic, tactile, audio and visual technologies. This enables a surgeon or doctor to perform a diagnosis or even surgery on a patient anywhere in the world.
Microbes in Allergy and Autoimmunity Related to the Skin (MAARS)
MAARS is an EU-funded, international and multi-centre study that explores the nature and duration of microbial stimuli and associated changes in the epithelial barrier, that leads to the development of skin-related allergy and autoimmunity. Two disorders of the human skin – atopic dermatitis and psoriasis serve as models for investigation to look into the programming of the immune system, and how it develops allergic or autoimmune inflammation. The aim of the study is to identify microbe-host-interaction networks involved in the development and persistence of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. The project will pave the way for progress in prevention, new diagnostic strategies and treatment options for allergy and autoimmunity related skin diseases.
5G Communication Automotive Research and innovation (5GCAR)
5GCAR (Fifth Generation Communication Automotive Research and innovation) is a H2020 5G PPP Phase 2 project funded by the European Commission.
CONSULT
Using wellness sensors to support patient decisions in managing their healthcare. The overarching goal of the CONSULT (Collaborative mObile decisioN Support for managing mULtiple morbidiTies) project is to establish the feasibility of employing a collaborative mobile decision-support system to help patients suffering from chronic diseases with multiple morbidities self-manage their treatment.
Student-led research workshops for improving “sense of belonging” in BME students in PhD programmes
This project will focus on improving a sense of belonging for BME students by pairing students in groups to foster relationships