The shippable health cube H3 has been deployed in both Ukraine and Italy
Vancouver-based UniDoc Health is introducing a portable doctor’s office, laboratory or even a small mobile hospital. It’s called the H3 Health Cube, and the company says its AI-powered health clinics will bring medical care closer to that in rural areas, bringing high-tech diagnostic tools and real-time automated triage assessments where it’s needed.
“Limited access to comprehensive medical care affects people around the world, especially remote areas with limited transportation and infrastructure,” Antonio Baldassarre, CEO of UniDoc, said in a statement. “The H3 Health Cube can help fill the gap in care and reduce the burden on hospitals and community clinics by providing robust access to medical care, independent of existing infrastructure.”
The Health Cube is a self-contained virtual clinic that is about a third the size of a shipping container. According to UniDoc Health, it will give remote patients the ability to make extended medical appointments even if doctors are unavailable locally, thanks to the array of sensors, communications technology and medical equipment built into the cube.
Each Health Cube is equipped with sanitary facilities, lighting, a security system, a chair and bed, cupboards and a wheelchair ramp. Each room has a computer, webcam and power, along with monitors and keyboards. In terms of medical equipment, standard onboard tools include:
- USB electronic stethoscope
- Versa range
- All-in-one vital signs monitor with: SpO2, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature
- Electronic scale
- Touch ECG System – wireless, fully diagnostic 12-lead ECG acquisition unit
- Ultrasound
- TD-4216 Blood and urine – Rapid testing and monitoring
In addition, however, UniDoc says the Health Cube integrates with more than 400 medical devices that can be optionally added, including equipment such as a vital signs monitor, laboratory testing equipment, colonoscopy instruments and even a CT scanner.
The interior of a Health Cube. The company hasn’t released full images of what’s inside yet.
The first five Health Cubes have been shipped to customers such as Italian aid group Aiutiamoli a Vivere Foundation, which will deploy the mobile clinics in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, both places where traditional medical care is under severe pressure due to conflict. Another Health Cube is shipped to Aliano, a remote village in Italy, where the nearest hospitals are far away and difficult to reach. And another Health Cube will be deployed by the Hope Ukraine Foundation in Okhmatdyt, Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, which was damaged by a rocket attack in July.
“This will represent a step forward to improve territorial healthcare assistance for Aliano and the surrounding areas,” Aliano Mayor Luigi De Lorenzo said in a statement, adding that distance to regional hospitals is a key challenge for his community.
Italy is not alone in this challenge.
About 30 million Americans live in “medical deserts,” at least a 60-minute drive from local hospitals. Some of them are rural, but some are urban areas in Chicago and LA. And the U.S. government predicts a shortage of as many as 20,000 rural primary care professionals by 2025.
In that scenario, could a shippable ‘Health Cube’ be the future of medical care?
Possibly, especially as medical AI improves. Even if that is not the case, this model offers specialists and even general practitioners the opportunity to live where they want, but still have an impact on the health of people in remote areas, war zones or regions affected by natural disasters.