Invention Roundup: The Next Stage of COVID-19 Inventions
From Virus-Killing Robots to Improved Telemedicine
Inventors continue to pivot and direct their ideas and energy to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Low-cost, rapid detection of the virus is still an important need. But in the absence of a vaccine, inventors are also looking for different ways to efficiently sanitize surfaces and kill the virus before it can enter the human body.
Masks are now being designed that don’t just act as a shield, but actively kill the novel coronavirus, and robots are being programmed to disinfect surfaces in a fraction of the time it takes people to.
And while we continue to maintain social distancing, virtual reality and telemedicine are evolving to enable even more health services to be delivered remotely.
Here is a round-up of the latest COVID-19 inventions:
Rapid Detection Through Smartphones
“Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have now developed a cheap, sensitive, and accurate device for the detection of a wide array of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Reported in the journal Lab on a Chip, the device can produce results within about 30 minutes, and it costs only about $50 to manufacture. The developers of the new technology believe that it may be fast and sufficiently accurate enough to screen airline passengers before flights and in many other similar venues where a lot of people are gathered in small spaces.”
Robots that Sterilize Surfaces for Humans
“Violet is one of many robots deployed or soon to be deployed on the front lines of the global outbreak, navigating hospitals and assisting health workers and patients with a very low risk of spreading the infection. Akara has focused on making Violet portable and compact enough to be able to operate in tight, crowded spaces that are otherwise hard to clean: bathrooms, waiting areas, the nooks and crannies of public transit.”
A Plasma Wand that Destroys Pathogens
“A team of engineering professors from the University of Michigan have created a plasma jet wand that they believe could quickly and easily disinfect hospital rooms. The ion-emitting device looks something like a Ghostbusters’ proton packs, and its plasma beam can destroy bacteria and viruses in just seconds…Because the wand can sanitize both hard and soft surfaces, it could be a game changer for hospitals and healthcare facilities.”
A Facemask That Is More Sword Than Shield
“Researchers at the University of Kentucky are working on developing a face mask that could kill the coronavirus on contact. Dibakar Bhattacharyya, a chemical engineering professor who is the director of the university’s Center of Membrane Sciences, recently said that he had come up with an idea for mask that would “capture and deactivate” SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Bhattacharyya explained that the masks will feature enzymes that will attach to the protein spikes on the coronavirus and separate them, thus killing the virus.”
Remote Ultrasound Exams
“Clinical practices that never seriously considered using telemedicine are now performing virtual house calls with their patients… Butterfly Network, a maker of portable ultrasound wands that can turn a smartphone into a complete ultrasound system, has unveiled its Butterfly TeleGuidance that lets just about anyone do a scan…It links the Butterfly ultrasound and the smartphone it’s connected to with a clinician’s computer, who may be very far away. The clinician can position, move, and rotate augmented reality signs that describe how to manipulate the ultrasound wand while talking to the individual performing the exam and seeing what they are seeing.”
