Dubai tests Virtual ICU to improve care for critical patients

Dubai: Dubai Health is piloting a “Virtual ICU” system that uses artificial intelligence to monitor critical patients in real time and alert nurses at the first sign of distress. The initiative, currently being tested on ten beds at Al Jalila Children’s Hospital, is part of the city’s broader drive to bring digital transformation into clinical care.

“The AI cameras are placed in the ICU and are monitoring the movements of the patients, facial recognition and the colour of the skin,” said Hend Majed Al Abbar, Director of the AI Enablement Department at Dubai Health. “In case of any signs of discomfort or movements that might put the patient in danger, it will send alerts to the nursing station so they can respond quickly.”

The pilot integrates directly with Salama, Dubai Health’s unified electronic medical record system, enabling automatic tracking of vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the National Children’s Hospital in Washington DC, whose command centre is also monitoring the ten ICU beds remotely.

Al Abbar said the virtual ICU is in its testing phase and will go live in December at Al Jalila Children’s Hospital. “After that, we will study the impact after implementation and see how we can scale it up to other ICUs in our hospitals,” she said.

Virtual ICUs are becoming an essential part of modern healthcare, improving safety in high-acuity units by combining visual analytics with clinical data. The approach allows earlier intervention, potentially reducing mortality and length of stay for critically ill patients, a model already in use in several US hospitals.

Alongside the ICU initiative, Dubai Health is testing Virufy, an AI-powered smartphone application that analyses the sound of a patient’s breathing and cough to help detect respiratory diseases. “It will predict what type of respiratory disease a person might have,” Al Abbar said. “It’s implemented in Nad Al Hamar Clinic and in Al Barsha Clinic, where we are gathering data to analyse the disease and verify the accuracy of the predictions.”

The Virufy study, conducted in partnership with Dubai Future Solutions’ Prototypes for Humanity programme, is currently limited to research use. “Based on the results, we can see how we can expand the research and develop an implementation plan,” Al Abbar said.

Both projects mark a new step in Dubai’s move toward AI-assisted healthcare, where machine learning supports clinicians rather than replaces them. For patients and families, it means faster responses, earlier detection of risk, and more personalised care.