Since 2015, the CSS Health Lab has been working together with ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen to research digital technologies in healthcare. This involves exploring the potential of innovative therapies and new solutions to support people with chronic diseases.
Can a smartwatch identify the risk of a chronic disease before it’s even diagnosed? Do people live healthier lives if they are rewarded for it? These are the kinds of questions being investigated by doctoral students from economics, psychology and computer science at the CSS Health Lab. As part of the Centre for Digital Health Interventions, the CSS Health Lab is a joint initiative between CSS, ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen dedicated to digital health.
The researchers study the potential of innovative and digital solutions and technologies – and how they can be integrated into the Swiss healthcare system. Their work aims to help people living with chronic conditions to better manage their health. With this research institute, CSS underscores its commitment to building a forward-looking and innovative healthcare system, taking a leading role in the process.
We have strong partnerships in science, medicine and technology and have built up extensive expertise. That's our main asset.
The CSS Health Lab works closely with patients, service providers and technology companies in multi-year studies and projects. The current four-year research period focuses on digital biomarkers – data collected by devices such as smartphones or fitness trackers. These metrics can help detect early signs of disease or register behavioural changes that may influence the risk or progression of an illness.
In the Glow Up observational study, the CSS Health Lab is investigating whether data from smartphones and fitness trackers can help identify an increased risk of diabetes at an early stage and support better prevention.
Using smartphone images of meals, AI can see how healthy our diets are. The CSS Health Lab explores how such technology can lead to preventive solutions, again with a focus on assessing diabetes risk.
CSS rewards and supports clients who maintain a healthy lifestyle with health programmes that include active365. The CSS Health Lab analyses whether such incentives and initiatives lead to long-term behavioural change and to subsequent savings in healthcare costs.
In a large-scale interview study, the CSS Health Lab is looking at how reimbursement models could succeed in Switzerland that focus on the value of patient outcomes rather than the quantity of services provided.
Chronic diseases often go undetected – and are preventable. We’re excited by the potential of digital technologies to identify risks earlier and enable more effective prevention.
The CSS Health Lab generates insights and connects research with various key players across the healthcare sector. Research requires persistence and patience – but that's what it takes if we want to succeed in bringing projects to market.
One of our research projects demonstrated that night-time coughing sounds recorded by a smartphone and analysed by an app can predict three-quarters of asthma attacks. The sensor and technology developed from this insight led to the creation of the start-up Resmonics. Today, the Zurich-based company applies its solution in hospitals. The warning system analyses acoustic signals in indoor environments, helping to reduce infection rates among both staff and patients.
Persons insured with CSS today benefit from Manoa, an online training programme for patients with high blood pressure. Through the app, people with high blood pressure or an increased risk of cardiovascular disease can measure and record their blood pressure values using their smartphone. The research behind this innovation originated at the Centre for Digital Health Interventions. Doctoral students from the CSS Health Lab helped develop the technology that led to the founding of the start-up Pathmate Technologies.