The Big Data for Small People program has developed automated digital infrastructure that captures and analyses complex medical data from children in intensive care units and operating theatres at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in order to improve their care.

Lead by Associate Professor Justin Skowno, Paediatric Anaesthetist and Director of Anaesthesia Research at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the program envisions a future where a clinician will have easy access to a patient’s physiological data and real-time analyses of these data, linked with many other sources of medical information, to support them in providing data-informed health care decisions.

Currently, very little of the physiological data collected from a patient in critical care areas in a hospital is stored or analysed. Big Data for Small People is changing that, and is currently being used for clinical review of critically ill patients across 98 locations. Future areas of work for the project include better visualisation of complex medical data, automation of data analysis, and building prediction systems using machine learning and other artificial intelligence tools. All of this is focussed on providing the best possible care for the sickest children.

The Big Data for Small People program is kindly supported by Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation.