Accidental invention

The traffic accident, which Sena Dönmez, a university student living in Izmir, had in 2019 paved the way for the establishment of a special system that instantly monitors the health status of the people in the vehicle and increases life safety. Never forgetting the traffic accident in Narlıdere, Dönmez developed a project called 'Autohealth', which measures ECG thanks to the sensors placed in the seat belt and notifies 112 of the situations in case of an accident or sudden change. Stating that they applied for a patent for the project, Sena Dönmez, who is studying at Department of Mathematics, Izmir University of Economics (IUE) said, “I couldn't get over the impact of the accident for a long time. I couldn't give any information about the accident because I was in shock inside the vehicle. After the accident, I thought about what I can do to increase the safety of the passengers and after working for 1 year, the project came to light.”

Sena Dönmez (23), living in Güzelbahçe, Izmir, had an accident in Narlıdere while traveling with her mother in April 2019. Dönmez, whose car was caught between two cars at the intersection, had a brush with death.

HER FRIEND SUPPORTED

Dönmez, who was in shock at the time of the accident, could not get over the effect of the event for a long time. After the events, Dönmez decided to make a project that will increase the safety of the passengers in the vehicle and asked for support from his friend Şükrü Güzel (24) who is a Computer Engineering graduate student at Izmir Institute of Technology (İYTE). The two friends started working on the project they named 'Autohealth'.

RANKED THIRD IN ‘BU GENÇLİKTE İŞ VAR’ COMPETITION

While Dönmez worked out everything she wanted in the project down to the last detail, her friend Güzel developed the software. The project, which was successfully completed as a result of a one-year study, was also entitled to receive incubation support in the final of the 'TUSIAD’s Bu Gençlikte İş Var Aegean Camp’.   

THE DETECTION PROCESS WILL ACCELERATE

Giving details about the project, Sena Dönmez said, “A person should be able to learn from some of the negative experiences, and even turn this situation into a benefit. Our project was a bit like that. Traffic accidents can cause many injuries. It is only possible to accurately determine the number and condition of the survivors inside the vehicle, when the health institution arrives at the accident site. With our system, we aim to speed up the response detection process by transmitting the information to the healthcare institution before it even arrives at the scene of the accident.”

TRANSFERS DATA WITH THE LOCATION OF THE VEHICLE

Dönmez continued as follows: “ECG sensors are placed on the fabric part of the seat belt. When the passengers and the driver get into the vehicle and put on their seat belts, the first ECG measurement is performed, and this measurement is stored on the main board separately for each passenger. The system, which we connect to the impact sensors in the vehicles, repeats itself at certain intervals. These intervals can be 30 minutes or can be set for any other time. As a result of the comparison of the first data received with the new data, if at least one of the passengers is at risk or the passenger cannot be measured for a while (an accident or ejection from the vehicle may occur), all data is transferred to the necessary institutions along with the location of the vehicle. Health data transfer continues to be shared instantly with 112 until the ambulance arrives at the accident scene.”  

EASY TO APPLY

Stating that he is happy to be a part of such a project, Şükrü Güzel from IYTE said that they aim to further develop the project in the coming period. Güzel said, “I think we have realized an important project based on human health and meeting the need. I put a lot of effort in the software part, I worked for a long time. But we finally reached the goal. We applied for a patent to further develop and advance the project. Receiving an award in the final of 'TUSIAD’s Bu Gençlikte İş Var Aegean Camp’ also motivated and made us proud. Thanks to that, we also received incubation support. We will make the best use of these opportunities. Our project can be easily applied to many vehicles. The cost is not high either. Our project can protect the victims in risky injuries by preventing the intervention of untrained people at the scene of accident.”