# Empowering Clinical Engineering and Evidence-Based Maintenance with IoT and Indoor Navigation +
###### Abstract  
The OHIO (Odin Hospital Indoor cOmpass) project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation action program, via ODIN-Open Call, which is issued and executed under the ODIN project and focuses on enhancing hospital safety, productivity, and quality by introducing digital solutions, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). OHIO aims to enhance the productivity and quality of medical equipment maintenance activities within the pilot hospital, \"Le Scotte\" in Siena (Italy), by leveraging internal informational resources. OHIO will also be completely integrated with the ODIN platform, taking advantage of the available services and functionalities. OHIO exploits Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tags and antennas together with the resources provided by the ODIN platform to develop a complex ontology-based IoT framework, which acts as a central cockpit for the maintenance of medical equipment through a central management web application and an indoor real-time location system (RTLS) for mobile devices. The application programmable interfaces (APIs) are based on REST architecture for seamless data exchange and integration with the hospital's existing computer-aided facility management (CAFM) and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. The outcomes of the project are assessed both with quantitative and qualitative methods, by evaluating key performance indicators (KPIs) extracted from the literature and performing a preliminary usability test on both the whole system and the graphic user interfaces (GUIs) of the developed applications. The test implementation demonstrates improvements in maintenance timings, including a reduction in maintenance operation delays, duration of maintenance tasks, and equipment downtime. Usability post-test questionnaires show positive feedback regarding the usability and effectiveness of the applications. The OHIO framework enhanced the effectiveness of medical equipment maintenance by integrating existing software with newly designed, enhanced interfaces. The research also indicates possibilities for scaling up the developed methods and applications to additional large-scale pilot hospitals within the ODIN network. medical equipment; IoT; clinical engineering; evidence-based maintenance; real-world data +
Footnote †: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)]([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/))). rapid advancement of medical technologies has not consistently corresponded with a concurrent adaptation in hospital infrastructures. Numerous hospitals persist with outdated designs, posing navigational challenges for users and staff members [1]. The integration of digital solutions, including the Internet of Things (IoT) [2], robotics [3], cloud computing [4], computer vision [5], and artificial intelligence (AI) [6], is increasingly pivotal in virtually every aspect of healthcare. These technologies aim to optimize daily duties by relieving workers from stressful and time-consuming tasks. IoT, robots, and AI can assume a critical role in supporting human workers, particularly in high-stress situations, by managing non-essential tasks, thereby contributing to enhancing overall performance [7]. ODIN--a European initiative funded through Horizon 2020, which is the EU's Research and Innovation program dedicated to advancing top-tier science--embodies a noteworthy project with a primary focus on augmenting safety, productivity, and quality within hospital settings [8]. The central objective of ODIN is to develop an open digital platform that facilitates services leveraging robotics, IoT solutions, and specialized AI.