Timothy Chan / en Engineering the best NHL team: °”ÍűTV researchers create draft predictor for Las Vegas Golden Knights /news/engineering-best-nhl-team-u-t-researchers-create-draft-predictor-las-vegas-golden-knights <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Engineering the best NHL team: °”ÍűTV researchers create draft predictor for Las Vegas Golden Knights</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-06-12-nhl-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kb4eNGH1 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-06-12-nhl-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KZfcqBye 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-06-12-nhl-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=z-izy2Xt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-06-12-nhl-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kb4eNGH1" alt="photo of Timothy Chan and students"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-06-12T11:28:03-04:00" title="Monday, June 12, 2017 - 11:28" class="datetime">Mon, 06/12/2017 - 11:28</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left to right, Albert Loa, Michael Shin, Associate Professor Timothy Chan, Yusuf Shalaby, Ben Potter and Rafid Mahmood created a tool for the NHL’s new expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights (photo by Marit Mitchell)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Liz Do</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/timothy-chan" hreflang="en">Timothy Chan</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hockey" hreflang="en">Hockey</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">“If the Golden Knights want to use our team for some consulting, we’d be OK with that too”</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>While hockey fans wait&nbsp;anxiously for draft picks for&nbsp;the NHL’s new expansion team, <a href="https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights">the Las Vegas Golden Knights</a>, Industrial Engineering Associate Professor <strong>Timothy Chan</strong> and his students may already have an idea of who made the cut.</p> <p>Chan’s research group has developed and launched the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nhlexpansiondraft.com/">NHL Expansion Draft Optimizer</a>, a web-based modelling tool that takes a deep dive into draft data, analyzing more than 10ÂČÂșÂș&nbsp;possibilities to predict what the 2017-2018 Golden Knights roster may look like.&nbsp;Golden Knights' general manager George McPhee makes the draft announcement on June 21.</p> <p>“We’re all big sports fans, and we were speculating about the expansion draft,” said Chan, who worked with a team of five °”ÍűTV Engineering students, including undergraduates and graduate students, over the course of a month to develop the site in time for the draft. “Knowing that the announcement was coming up, we thought this website would be a great tool to show operations research in action.”</p> <h3><a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2017/06/13/u-of-t-engineers-an-expansion-roster-for-vegas-with-the-click-of-a-button.html">Read more at the <em>Toronto Star</em></a></h3> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4959 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/NHL-Optimizer_500.gif" style="width: 335px; height: 500px; margin: 10px 30px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image">Using the optimization model the group designed, the site determines who the Golden Knights should pick from the NHL’s 30 teams to maximize the “value” of the&nbsp;roster, taking into consideration the draft rules. The optimizer selects:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>One player from each existing club for a total of 30 players&nbsp;</li> <li>A minimum of 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders</li> <li>A minimum of 20 players who are under contract for the 2017-2018 season</li> <li>Players with an aggregate expansion draft value that is between 60-100 per cent of the prior season's upper limit for the salary cap</li> </ul> <p>It also allows hockey fans to fine-tune the results to their liking and sports expertise, choosing which players to “protect” or which to “expose” to the draft, and adjusting the metrics for what they think would be most valuable for the team, such as optimizing based on a player’s on-ice performance&nbsp;or even by their EA Sports NHL 17 player rating. Fans can also get a sense of which players they could lose from their favourite team.&nbsp;</p> <p>“This is bringing operations research (OR) out to the mainstream audience. Classically, OR is used very internally –&nbsp;a general audience may understand the concept of optimization, but they can’t explain what it is,” said PhD candidate<strong> Rafid Mahmood</strong>. “This NHL optimizer brings it to the forefront, and shows why OR is so valuable.”</p> <p><strong>Ben Potter</strong>, who is pursuing a master's degree,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>knew the optimization model they created was doing its job when he noticed a name that kept popping up in the media and in the&nbsp;optimizer.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I don’t know a lot about the NHL, but one of the recurring results was [Chicago Blackhawks’] Trevor van Riemsdyk, and someone pointed out that there was speculation in the news that the Golden Knights were going to select him as part of a larger deal with Chicago.”&nbsp;</p> <p>The website also highlights difficult situations teams may be facing in order to protect their star players. For example, the model indicates that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ starting goalie, Matt Murray, is slated to be exposed and chosen by Vegas, since the&nbsp;back-up goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, has a no-trade clause in his contract.&nbsp;</p> <p>“If the draft were held today, that’s very likely what would happen,” said Chan. “However, most pundits believe that Pittsburgh will somehow find a way to keep Murray via trades or a side deal with Vegas.”</p> <p>After McPhee makes the big draft announcement, and the roster of the 31st NHL team is known, Chan’s research team&nbsp;plans to have a post-mortem to see how well the&nbsp;optimizer did in predicting the new Golden Knights' team. After that, they hope to find other applications for their model.&nbsp;</p> <p>“The foundation that this was built can be applied to a lot of other problems that require on-demand optimization. It could be useful for anything from scheduling to fantasy sports,” said Chan. “Of course, in the short term, if the Golden Knights want to use our team for some consulting, we’d be OK with that too.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 12 Jun 2017 15:28:03 +0000 ullahnor 108392 at Coffee shops, 24-hour ATMs are the best locations for life-saving AEDs, °”ÍűTV research shows /news/coffee-shops-24-hour-atms-are-best-locations-life-saving-aeds-u-t-research-shows <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Coffee shops, 24-hour ATMs are the best locations for life-saving AEDs, °”ÍűTV research shows</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-20-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=oy1dxvJF 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-20-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=x1tCRSM_ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-20-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Rh6GOUrs 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-20-chan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=oy1dxvJF" alt="Photo of Timothy Chan and student"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-20T16:57:33-04:00" title="Monday, March 20, 2017 - 16:57" class="datetime">Mon, 03/20/2017 - 16:57</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Timothy Chan (left) and Christopher Sun (right) studied data on cardiac arrest locations in Toronto to determine a list of “Top 10” businesses where placing automated external defibrillators would save lives (photo by Marit Mitchell)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Liz Do</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cardiac" hreflang="en">Cardiac</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/engineering" hreflang="en">Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/defibrillators" hreflang="en">Defibrillators</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/timothy-chan" hreflang="en">Timothy Chan</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">°”ÍűTV Engineering team creates list of top 10 businesses where placing automatic external defibrillators would save lives</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>ATMs and coffee shops such as Tim Hortons, Starbucks and Second Cup make ideal locations for placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs), says a new study led by °”ÍűTV Engineering Professor<strong>&nbsp;Timothy Chan&nbsp;</strong>and PhD candidate <strong>Christopher Sun</strong>, in collaboration with St. Michael’s Hospital.</p> <p>When a patient suffers cardiac arrest, every second counts — the chances of survival decrease by 10 per cent each minute. Responding quickly can be the difference between life and death, and that means having immediate access to a nearby AED.</p> <p>“Previous research on AED placements had focused on broadly defined location categories, like shopping malls or office buildings,” said Sun. “But these categories generalize many individual businesses, which have different hours, activities performed, and other unique properties that meant we could be missing critical insight on which locations are really high risk. So we wanted to get more specific: which individual locations or businesses could AEDs be placed to make sure they are accessible to the largest number of people throughout the day.”</p> <p>Their findings are&nbsp;already making headlines.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/defibrillators-coffee-shops-abms-1.4033142">See the CBC story</a></h3> <h3><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/03/20/tim-hortons-atms-ideal-locations-for-automated-external-defibrillators-study.html">See the Toronto Star story</a></h3> <h3><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/health/aed-coffee-shop-atm-study/index.html">See the CNN story</a></h3> <p>Their new study, published today in the American Heart Association journal <em><a href="http://circ.ahajournals.org/">Circulation</a></em>, looked at where cardiac arrests occur, to find locations where AEDs would be most valuable.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3880 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/defib-map-embed.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 563px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Map of the facilities of the Top 5 ranked businesses in terms of actual coverage in all of Toronto&nbsp;(image courtesy of&nbsp;Sun &amp; Chan)</em></p> <p>First, the researchers identified all businesses with 20 or more locations in Toronto –&nbsp;facilities such as Tim Hortons coffee shops or libraries that would make good candidates to place AEDs in.</p> <p>Then they looked at the number of cardiac arrests that occurred within 100 metres of each location, during the businesses’ operating hours. Using this data, Chan and Sun calculated the “spatiotemporal cardiac arrest coverage” provided by each location or business. The specific locations and businesses were then ranked to determine a “Top 10” list of prime spots to place AEDs.&nbsp;</p> <p>“We found that coffee shops and ATMs ranked highly across several related metrics, and that those rankings were stable over the years,” said Chan, who is the director of the <a href="http://che.utoronto.ca/">Centre for Healthcare Engineering</a> at U&nbsp;of T&nbsp;and a Canada Research Chair in Novel Optimization and Analytics in Health.</p> <p>“What we found really interesting is that ATMs, as opposed to the more traditional businesses, are often standalone or outdoors, and are often available 24/7. They’re also universally recognizable and already have an electronic and security infrastructure –&nbsp;hypothetically, if we were to have AEDs paired with ATMs, it would be very beneficial,” said Sun.</p> <p>Three coffee shop chains –&nbsp;Tim Hortons, Starbucks and Second Cup –&nbsp;as well as five of the big banks with many ATM locations, including RBC and Scotiabank, made the top 10. Tim Hortons was ranked first, with more than 300 shops in Toronto. These locations alone would have provided AED coverage for more than 200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests over an eight-year period.</p> <p>The researchers hope this new study could soon lead to AEDs placed in these optimal locations.</p> <p>“Health organizations, foundations and policymakers aiming to develop public access defibrillator programs could use our rankings to identify promising businesses to develop partnerships for AED deployment,” added Chan.</p> <p>Chan’s lab has a number of ongoing research projects on AED placements, including using drones to deliver AEDs, and optimizing AED placements in high-rise buildings.</p> <p>“Ultimately, we want to get AEDs in the right locations&nbsp;so they are accessible when needed most,” said Chan.</p> <p>Sun says cardiac arrests are unique because in the early stages they can be treated as effectively by untrained responders as by paramedics.</p> <p>“That’s why finding out the best placements for AEDs is so important,” said Sun. “We have the opportunity to save lives based on our level of preparation and organization.”</p> <p><u><strong>Top 10 locations for AEDs based on coverage</strong></u></p> <p>Tim Hortons<br> RBC ATMs<br> Subway restaurants<br> Scotiabank ATMs<br> CIBC ATMs<br> TD ATMs<br> Green P public parking lots<br> Starbucks<br> BMO ATMs<br> Second Cup</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:57:33 +0000 ullahnor 105998 at °”ÍűTV researchers' drone-delivered AEDs offer novel approach to saving lives at home /news/u-t-researchers-drone-delivered-aeds-offer-novel-approach-saving-lives-home <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">°”ÍűTV researchers' drone-delivered AEDs offer novel approach to saving lives at home</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-14-drones-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5VaCTlK- 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-14-drones-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=rePDrO8- 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-14-drones-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=s97IMM7C 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-14-drones-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5VaCTlK-" alt="Photo of drone researchers"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-14T12:18:22-05:00" title="Monday, November 14, 2016 - 12:18" class="datetime">Mon, 11/14/2016 - 12:18</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">°”ÍűTV's Timothy Chan (left), Angela Schoellig and Justin Boutilier (right) are part of a research team trying to use drones to deliver AEDs (photo by Liz Do)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Liz Do</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/drones" hreflang="en">drones</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/emergency" hreflang="en">Emergency</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cardiac" hreflang="en">Cardiac</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/aed" hreflang="en">AED</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/timothy-chan" hreflang="en">Timothy Chan</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Drone delivery could shave crucial minutes off the median ambulance response times in both rural and urban regions</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When a person goes into cardiac arrest, every passing minute hurts their chances of survival. Now, a group of University of Toronto researchers want to use drones to deliver life-saving automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) rapidly and directly to homes.</p> <p><strong>Justin Boutilier</strong>, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering,&nbsp;envisions a future in which a bystander or family member who witnesses a cardiac arrest can call 911, and within minutes, an AED is flown to their doorstep or balcony to be administered –&nbsp;before the paramedics arrive.</p> <p>Boutilier is working under Associate Professor <strong>Timothy Chan</strong>, director of °”ÍűTV's <a href="http://che.utoronto.ca/">Centre for Healthcare Engineering</a>, in collaboration with Assistant Professor <strong>Angela Schoellig</strong> and researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital's&nbsp;<a href="http://stmichaelshospitalresearch.ca/research-programs/rescu/">Rescu</a> program, in order to turn the&nbsp;futuristic idea into a life-saving reality.</p> <p>This project comes on the heels of research by Chan’s lab on cardiac arrests that occur outside of hospitals, and the <a href="http://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/many-life-saving-defibrillators-behind-locked-doors-off-hours-study-finds/">lack of accessible AEDs</a> in public locations during non-business hours. Boutilier is now focusing on reducing deaths from cardiac arrests that occur at home.</p> <p>About 85 per cent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Southern Ontario take place within a private residence.</p> <p>“For those arrests, the public AEDs are not useful because it’s hard to get to them in time. It’s also not cost effective to put AEDs everywhere in the suburbs,” explained Boutilier.&nbsp;</p> <p>Therefore, the&nbsp;survival rates are not good.</p> <p>“Not only is the survival rate of private-location cardiac arrests low, the response times are also slower than public locations,” said Chan. “So we thought, we need to come up with something completely new.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Chan and Dr. Steve Brooks, an emergency physician at Kingston General Hospital and frequent collaborator at Rescu, found a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-rEI4bezWc">video of a prototype AED drone</a> designed at Delft University in the Netherlands. A PhD student had developed the prototype, complete with a camera and microphone, which weighed only four kilograms and travelled 100 kilometres per hour.&nbsp;</p> <p>“To us, the idea of using a drone to deliver an AED to private location cardiac arrests seemed like a no-brainer,” said Chan.</p> <p>Of the many benefits to AED drone delivery: “You don’t have to worry about traffic. You could get the AED there faster than paramedics so the bystander can start treatment as early as possible. And that’s very important. Every minute that goes by, the chance of survival decreases,” said Chan.&nbsp;</p> <p>To determine where drones should be stationed and how many are needed to serve a given population, Boutilier obtained historical cardiac arrest data from eight regions in Southern Ontario, including dense urban cities and sparse rural communities.</p> <p>“We conducted our analysis by imagining that this technology was implemented five years ago and asking, what would the next five years have looked like?” Boutilier explained.&nbsp;</p> <p>What they found was that they were able to shave several minutes off the median ambulance response times in both rural and urban regions, and drones could arrive ahead of ambulances more than 90 per cent of the time.</p> <p>“The one challenging thing is that it’s hard to know the number of lives we could have saved, which is what we’re looking at now,” said Boutilier.</p> <p>Regulatory restrictions present another challenge to implementation –&nbsp;aviation, including drone flights, is strictly regulated by Transport Canada. Current rules stipulate that users are prohibited from flying drones out of their line of sight.</p> <p>Schoellig, the associate director of the <a href="http://carre.utoronto.ca/">Centre for Aerial Robotics Research and Education</a> (CARRE) at U&nbsp;of T, believes these restrictive regulations won’t last for long. “It is a matter of proving safety and reliability of this new technology to the regulators. This will require more technological breakthroughs –&nbsp;for example, giving drones the ability to detect obstacles.</p> <p>But drone technology has developed very quickly in the last five to 10 years,” she explained.</p> <p>“Google and Amazon are already working on implementing delivery drones and have been lobbying the government to ease these regulations,” added Boutilier. &nbsp;“So if the government allows the drone delivery of commercial products, they would allow the delivery of AEDs, which is a life-saving matter.”&nbsp;</p> <p>This past weekend, Boutilier and Chan presented their research at the <a href="https://professional.heart.org/professional/EducationMeetings/MeetingsLiveCME/ScientificSessions/UCM_321311_Resuscitation-Science-Symposium.jsp">American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium</a> in New Orleans, where Boutilier says he was excited to see the reactions from attendees.</p> <p>“Depending on whom you talk to, the response can be very different. When I talk to medical professionals, some say, ‘That’s too futuristic,’ but when I talk to tech people their reaction is often, ‘This technology has been around for the last few years. We could do this tomorrow.’&nbsp;</p> <p>“We’re trying to shake things up a bit within the field of health care, and change the way people are thinking about how we solve problems.”</p> <p>In the near future, Boutilier hopes to pilot the project in Muskoka, a region that has a high rate of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the slowest ambulance response time of all the regions they’ve gathered data from.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I think the technology is there. I think the challenge is in the details of how to make this work,” said Chan. “It’s working through government regulations, coordinating with Emergency Medical Services, and making sure the public is behind this, that they have awareness of drones and its various purposes.&nbsp;</p> <p>“But ultimately, it’s an idea that I think can really make a huge leap forward in our ability to get defibrillators to patients. &nbsp;I think within five to 10 years, drone deliveries will be a reality.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 14 Nov 2016 17:18:22 +0000 ullahnor 102412 at Life-saving defibrillators often behind locked doors during off-hours, says °”ÍűTV study /news/life-saving-defibrillators-often-behind-locked-doors-during-hours-says-u-t-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Life-saving defibrillators often behind locked doors during off-hours, says °”ÍűTV study</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/AED.jpeg?h=3fcbca33&amp;itok=cHq9qyfu 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/AED.jpeg?h=3fcbca33&amp;itok=Om1-gfAY 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/AED.jpeg?h=3fcbca33&amp;itok=LGqH3y0X 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/AED.jpeg?h=3fcbca33&amp;itok=cHq9qyfu" alt="A sign showing the location of an Automated External Defibrillator"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-08-15T14:01:50-04:00" title="Monday, August 15, 2016 - 14:01" class="datetime">Mon, 08/15/2016 - 14:01</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Liz Do</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mechanical-industrial-engineering" hreflang="en">Mechanical &amp; Industrial Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/defibrillators" hreflang="en">Defibrillators</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/timothy-chan" hreflang="en">Timothy Chan</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When a person suffers cardiac arrest, there is a one in five chance a potentially life-saving Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is nearby. But up to 30 per cent of the time, the device is locked inside a closed building, according to a study led by °”ÍűTV Engineering researchers, published August 15 in the <a href="http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleID=2544521"><em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</em></a>.</p> <p>The work was conducted by Professor <strong>Timothy Chan</strong> of the Department of Mechanical &amp; Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with <a href="http://stmichaelshospitalresearch.ca/research-programs/rescu/">Rescu</a>, led by Dr. Laurie Morrison at Li Ka Shing Institute of St Michael's Hospital in Toronto.</p> <p>Currently, AED placement in Canada does not necessarily consider accessibility of the device during an emergency. Many AEDs are located within office buildings, schools and recreation facilities, which tend to be open for a limited set of hours during the daytime.</p> <p>Toronto had 2,440 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in a public place during the study period, and 767 AED locations. Of these AED locations, 73.5 per cent were not open 24-hours a day, and 28.6 per cent were closed on weekends. Of the total number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, 451 were located near an AED but only 354 were located near an AED when the AED was accessible, resulting in a coverage loss of 21.5 per cent.</p> <p>When researchers looked at cardiac arrests during evenings, nights and weekends, which is when the majority of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur, coverage diminished to 31.6 percent.</p> <p>The researchers concluded that a significant proportion of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur close to a public AED that is inaccessible at the time of the arrest, and a model that accounts for both location and availability when determining AED placement has the potential to significantly increase the likelihood of accessing an AED when needed.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__1691 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Tim%20Chan.jpg?itok=vVetVr4J" style="width: 250px; height: 247px; margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image">“Our research has shown AED availability for cardiac arrests is overestimated when time factors, such as building access and time of day, are not considered,” said Chan (right). “The model considers time of day, building access and location information to optimize AED availability. Using the model, we found an average 25 per cent improvement in AED accessibility for cardiac arrests at all times of day.”</p> <p>Government legislation mandating all AEDs be registered with emergency medical services dispatch centers and accessible to the public 24/7 would also improve access to AEDs.</p> <p>But coverage is only one issue, according to the study’s authors: AED coverage does not necessarily equal survival, because the existence of an AED still doesn’t necessarily mean the AEDs are being used.</p> <p>“Accessibility is only one piece of the larger puzzle in optimizing public defibrillator use and bystander response in an emergency,” said Chan, who is also director of the Centre for Healthcare Engineering at °”ÍűTV.</p> <p>In an accompanying editorial comment, Robert J. Myerburg, a professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said the study is important and should be included in planning strategies for AED locations, but society would benefit more by both achieving better outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and reducing the number that occur in the first place.</p> <p>“Now we need a parallel effort to develop a roadmap for improving prediction and prevention of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,” he said.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 15 Aug 2016 18:01:50 +0000 lavende4 99970 at #Rio2016: How ‘moneyball’ research from °”ÍűTV can help athletes reach for Olympic gold /news/rio2016-how-moneyball-research-u-t-can-help-athletes-reach-olympic-gold <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">#Rio2016: How ‘moneyball’ research from °”ÍűTV can help athletes reach for Olympic gold</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-08-04-chan-tennis.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=3X0sPVxV 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-08-04-chan-tennis.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=pONtmRkj 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-08-04-chan-tennis.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=C_kZfkhK 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-08-04-chan-tennis.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=3X0sPVxV" alt="photo of Timothy Chan"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-08-11T14:55:52-04:00" title="Thursday, August 11, 2016 - 14:55" class="datetime">Thu, 08/11/2016 - 14:55</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Tennis fan Professor Timothy Chan is applying his expertise in mathematical optimization to help amateur sports federations across the country make the most of their limited resources (photo courtesy Professor Chan)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Tyler Irving</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/olympics" hreflang="en">Olympics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rio" hreflang="en">Rio</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mechanical-industrial-engineering" hreflang="en">Mechanical &amp; Industrial Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sports" hreflang="en">Sports</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/analytics" hreflang="en">Analytics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/timothy-chan" hreflang="en">Timothy Chan</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When Professor <strong>Timothy Chan</strong> sits down to watch a game of hockey, baseball or tennis, he isn’t taking a break from his research — he may be hard at work on a new paper.</p> <p>A professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, Chan's&nbsp;expertise in sports analytics and decision modelling has been sought out by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) in the hopes that it could provide a competitive edge for amateur athletes.</p> <p>Professional sports teams been leveraging statistics to improve team performance for more than a decade. By examining detailed data about how each player performs in various situations, analysts can build computer models that attempt to predict long-term performance. The technique, made famous in the Michael Lewis book and its&nbsp;film adaptation,&nbsp;<em>Moneyball</em>, empowers teams that can’t afford star players to make smarter use of the resources they do have.</p> <p>This year, Chan’s research team attracted the attention of the COC as part of its National Sport Federation Enhancement Initiative (NSFEI). NSFEI is a four-year project designed to help Canada’s federations improve their organizational capacity, including business operations, leadership and governance, as well as their ability to effectively recruit young, talented athletes into their sports.</p> <p>“National Sport Federations in Canada are resource constrained,” says David Patterson, who leads the initiative for the COC. “We see analytics as a way to better allocate scarce resources. These benefits could apply both on the field of play and away from competition, where we work hard to attract and retain more Canadians to a lifestyle in sport.”</p> <p>Chan came to Patterson’s attention in 2013 after he won the best paper award at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “Sloan is the top conference in the field, so it made sense to approach Dr. Chan as the best among the best in analytics.”</p> <h2><a href="/news/sports-analytics-what-baseball-can-learn-auto-manufacturing">Read about the award-winning paper</a></h2> <p>This past spring, Chan travelled to Ottawa and Calgary to deliver two seminars on sports analytics. “We started to work through some areas where we thought analytics could help,” he says. “The idea is that they can narrow down the focus and propose a research project that we could execute.”</p> <p>Since the seminar, Chan has been working with Tennis Canada to help increase youth participation in the sport. Chan is determining the best locations in Canada to hold winter tennis camps, based on local demand and available indoor facilities. The goal is to make sure that the resource-intensive camps reach the maximum number of potential future Eugenie Bouchards.</p> <p>Chan got into the sports analytics field almost by accident. As the Canada Research Chair in Novel Optimization and Analytics in Health, he primarily works on optimizing the delivery of health care. His research group has studied locations of automatic defibrillators within a city and &nbsp;deployment of ambulances in developing countries.</p> <h2><a href="/news/engineering-better-healthcare-system-placing-defibrillators-where-theyre-needed-most-redesigning-cli">Read about Chan's work on defibrillators</a></h2> <p>However, Chan is also a big sports fan, and his models can offer insights for the sports world.</p> <h2><a href="/news/money-puck-changing-way-we-rate-nhl-players">Read about Chan and hockey</a></h2> <p>“A lot of sports analytics is focused on statistics,” he says “whereas my background is in optimization.” Chan’s models not only predict future performance, they can be used to optimize performance in different scenarios — for example, determining how baseball players should switch defensive positions on the field if a player gets injured and a substitute is brought into the game.</p> <p>Sports analytics is just one small branch of Chan’s research program, but he finds it rewarding from a problem-solving perspective and enjoys the chance to apply his work to help the community.</p> <p>“I started this as a fun topic, but it’s definitely something I would be interested to spend more time looking at,” he says. “I think that the problems in this domain are very interesting, and there is still a lot of room for growth. There’s an opportunity to make a real impact.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 11 Aug 2016 18:55:52 +0000 lanthierj 99615 at