We are living in the middle of the emergency over coronavirus all over the world. The reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on societies and economies around the world cannot be understated. Because an estimated 15% of COVID-19 patients require hospitalization and 5% require intensive care (Z. Wu and McGoogan 2020), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has the potential of posing a substantial challenge to medical systems around the world (Remuzzi and Remuzzi 2020; Grasselli, Pesenti, and Cecconi 2020).
Necessity is the mother of invention. A need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. This saying appears in the dialogue Republic, by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is an English-language proverb. It means, roughly, that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need. When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.
Here are some examples of sort of ingenuity we need now in the middle of pandemia. Already many people contributed those efforts. Check out on those links what is already done if you can find any useful information or can contribute to those efforts you see as good idea. Start your reserach with 7 open hardware projects working to solve COVID-19 article.
I have collected here a list of interesting open hardware project and instructions that can be useful or educational. Hopefully this list I have contributed here will be useful for someone. Keep in mind that many of those ideas are potentially dangerous if the instructions are not entirely correct, implemented exactly right and used by people that know what they are doing. You have been warned: Do not try those at home yourself! We are dealing here with things that can easily injure or kill someone if improperly implemented or used – but at right place the best ideas from those could potentially save lives.
Repairing hospital equipment
The right thing to do in his situation is that medical companies to release service manuals for ALL medical equipment so they can be repaired and maintained where they are most needed.
In the face of ventilator shortages for COVID-19 victims, iFixit is looking to make maintaining and repairing equipment as easy as possible. iFixit Launches Central Repository for Hospital Equipment Repair and Maintenance Manuals
https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
Site http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com offers links many service manuals
Robotics
COVID-19 pandemic prompts more robot usage worldwide article tells that the coronavirus has increased interest in robots, drones, and artificial intelligence, even as some testing of autonomous vehicles pauses on public roads. It is believed that these technologies can help deal with massive staffing shortages in healthcare, manufacturing, and supply chains; the need for “social distancing;” and diagnosis and treatment.
Here are some robotics related links that could be useful:
Medical robotics expert Guang-Zhong Yang calls for a global effort to develop new types of robots for fighting infectious diseases.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/coronavirus-pandemic-call-to-action-robotics-community
Elements of Robotics Open Access Textbook
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-62533-1
Ventilators
A ventilator is a machine designed to provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are sometimes colloquially called “respirators”.
A ventilator, also called a respirator, is designed to provide mechanical ventilation by oxygen into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. The machines can be used to help a person breath if they have conditions making it difficult to breathe, such as lung diseases, during and post-surgery. For patients critically ill with coronavirus access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death.
In its simplest form, a modern positive pressure ventilator consists of a compressible air reservoir or turbine, air and oxygen supplies, a set of valves and tubes, and a disposable or reusable “patient circuit”. Modern ventilators are electronically controlled by a small embedded system to allow exact adaptation of pressure and flow characteristics to an individual patient’s needs.
They work by placing a tube in a person’s mouth, nose or small cut in the throat and connect it to a ventilator machine. The air reservoir is pneumatically compressed several times a minute to deliver room-air, or in most cases, an air/oxygen mixture to the patient.
Because failure may result in death, mechanical ventilation systems are classified as a life-critical system, and precautions must be taken to ensure that they are highly reliable. Modern commercial ventilator is a relatively complex piece of equipment with lots of components and a dedicated supply chain.
Because there is a lack of ventilators on many hospitals in several countries, there has been a lot of creative work done to help this problem.
There has been projects going on to repair old and non-working ventilators to a working conditions. For repairing some older devices, there has been problem to get spare parts from the manufacturer and that those spare parts can be very expensive. Also getting the service information for repairing those equipment seems to be hard to get from manufacturer, Ifixit has started a project Help commit industrial espionage for the greater good! to get the service information on-line at https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
In middle of the emergency some people have worked on to make their own spare parts when official parts are not available, thus making more devices available. For example a startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours. An Italian hospital that ran out of life-saving equipment for coronavirus patients was saved by a ‘hero’ engineer who used cutting-edge technology to design oxygen valves within a matter of hours. At least 10 lives were saved in this way.
So great thinking for 3d printing of valves. Are they sterilized and suitable? 3D printing has been used in numerous cases for medical parts already. Most 3D printing operates at relatively high temperatures and printed objects are actually naturally sterilized when they are made. Anyway the right kind of plastic needs to be selected and the part needs to be built in exactly right way that is works reliably as designed. If they are used and the individual gets worse, does the fact that equipment not medical certified (environment, storage, shipping, etc) put the hospital in additional jeopardy for a lawsuit? All valid questions each medical liability officer will have to address. But if people are going to literally die if you do nothing, then taking a risk with a part that you 3D print seems like an idea that is worth to try.
Links:
A startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italian-hospital-3d-printed-breathing-valves-covid-19-patients-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
https://it.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-manca-la-valvola-per-uno-strumento-di-rianimazione-e-noi-la-stampiamo-in-3d-accade-nellospedale-di-chiari-brescia/
Firm ‘refuses to give blueprint’ for coronavirus equipment that could save lives
https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/16/firm-refuses-give-blueprint-coronavirus-equipment-save-lives-12403815/
3D printed life-saving valves: already a dozen in operation
https://www.embodi3d.com/blogs/entry/436-3d-printed-life-saving-valves-already-a-dozen-in-operation/
Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments
Volunteers made the valves for about $1
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-3d-print-valves-treatments
Another tried trick is try to use one ventilator with more than one patient. Daily Mail writes that ventilators can be modified to help FOUR coronavirus patients breathe at the same time if the NHS is still critically short of the machines when the outbreak peaks, scientists say. Here are some links to material on using one ventilator to more than one patient:
https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/split-ventilators/
SAVING 4 PATIENTS WITH JUST 1 VENTILATOR
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/19/saving-4-patients-with-just-1-ventilator/
Here has been work going on in creating an open source ventilator design project. Here are some links to this project and some other DIY ventilator designs.
There’s A Shortage Of Ventilators For Coronavirus Patients, So This International Group Invented An Open Source Alternative That’s Being Tested Next Week
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/03/18/theres-a-shortage-of-ventilators-for-coronavirus-patients-so-this-international-group-invented-an-open-source-alternative-thats-being-tested-next-week/
Open-source Oxygen Concentrator
https://reprapltd.com/open-source-oxygen-concentrator/
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/17/designing-a-low-cost-open-source-ventilator-with-arduino/
https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/
Macgyvilator Mk 1 (3-19-2020) – “ventilator” for disasters and/or low resource environments
Macgyvilator Mk 1 is a disaster “ventilator”, a simple apparatus to compress a bag-valve-mask with some control over tidal volume and rate. Constructed quickly and simply using wood, PVC, velcro, common fasteners, and easily sourced and assembled electronic components.
An Arduino based Open Source Ventilator to Fight against COVID-19?
https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/03/21/an-arduino-based-open-source-ventilator-to-fight-against-covid-19/
Low-Cost Open Source Ventilator or PAPR
https://github.com/jcl5m1/ventilator
Low-cost Ventilators
https://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2020/03/low-cost-ventilators.html
Arduino Respirator Prototype (pen source solution from Reesistencia Team, which is undergoing testing)
https://www.facebook.com/official.arduino/videos/2557115014604392/
OxyGEN project
https://oxygen.protofy.xyz
“OxyGEN is an open hardware project to build an emergency mechanism that automates an AMBU type manual ventilator in extreme shortage situations such as the one caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in some parts of the world.”
NOTE: Take a look at the expression VILI before thinking about trying one of these. It is hard making a ventilator that doesn’t harm the lungs. It is easy to get Ventilator-associated lung injury or die if the ventilator does not work exactly correctly all the time.
Testing for infection
There are many approaches thought to be helpful to finding out if someone is infected or something is contaminated.
Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus. However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever (it can take 2-10 days before infected people get the fewer).
Open-Source Collaboration Tackles COVID-19 Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/10/open-source-collaboration-tackles-covid-19-testing/
Low-cost & Open-Source Covid19 Detection kits
https://app.jogl.io/project/118?
This Open Source Device Can Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces
The Chai team has developed a detection test that works with their Open qPCR tool.
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-open-source-device-can-detect-coronavirus-on-surfaces-3da1d7b1c73a
Prevent touching face
It is recommended to stop touching your face to minimize spread of coronavirus and other germs. People touch their faces frequently. They wipe their eyes, scratch their noses, bite their nails and twirl their mustaches.
Not touching your face is a simple way to protect yourself from COVID-19, but it’s not easy. If you can reduce face-touching, you can lower people’s chances of catching COVID-19. Why is it so hard to stop? Face-touching rewards us by relieving momentary discomforts like itches and muscle tension.
If you you want to change, you can try to replace it with a competing response that opposes the muscle movements needed to touch your face. When you feel the urge to touch your face, you can clench your fists, sit on your hands, press your palms onto the tops of your thighs or stretch your arms straight down at your sides. Some sources recommend object manipulation, in which you occupy your hands with something else. You can rub your fingertips, fiddle with a pen or squeeze a stress ball.
Related links:
This pair of Arduino glasses stops you from touching your face
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/10/this-pair-of-arduino-glasses-stops-you-from-touching-your-face/
Don’t Touch Your Face
Don’t touch your face — easy to say, hard to do. This device, worn like a watch, will buzz whenever your hand aims for trouble.
https://www.hackster.io/mike-rigsby/don-t-touch-your-face-e8eac3
Hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is a liquid or gel generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands. It depends on the case if hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is preferred. For Covid-19 WHO recommends to wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly. Use alcohol-based handrub if you don’t have immediate access to soap and water.
It seems that there are many places where there is shortage of hand sanitizers. This has lead to situation where people have resorted to making their own. Recipes for DIY hand sanitizer are popping all over the internet. A quick search reveals news articles, YouTube how-to’s and step-by-step visual guides. But think twice about joining them — experts are wary and even caution against the idea. The World Health Organization even has an official guide to making hand sanitizer. But it’s intended for populations that do not have clean water or other medical-grade products in place. Don’t try to make your own hand sanitizer just because there’s a shortage from coronavirus.
Can’t get your hands on hand sanitizer? Make your own
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hand-sanitizer-coronavirus-make-your-own/
Photos show why hand sanitizer doesn’t work as well as soap and water to remove germs
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-photos-why-you-should-wash-hands-with-soap-water-2020-3?amp
Emergency DIY hand sanitizers (read the description)
“Every time a new health incident occurs there’s a rush on hand sanitizers, often causing shops to sell out.
Here’s how to make some simple emergency sanitizers at home, noting that they are not as effective as just washing your hands, and only some viruses can be damaged by simple sanitizers. These options are offered as a last resort when commercial versions are not available.”
“For the alcohol one the higher the percentage of alcohol the better, up to around 70-80%.”
Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer At Home When It’s Sold Out Everywhere
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2020/03/03/make-your-own-hand-sanitizer-at-home-when-its-sold-out-everywhere/
Sanitizing things
With deadly coronavirus spreading worldwide at an alarming speed, personal hygiene has become paramount importance to contain the infection spread further. Mobile phones are known to house several germ, and if you thing they are contaminated, you should maybe disinfect them. The CDC recommends that everyone “clean all “high-touch” surfaces every day” to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
How to Disinfect Your Smartphone article says CDC recommends that for your smartphone you should use 70% rubbing alcohol or alcohol-based disinfectant spray to wipe down the back and sides of your device. For example Apple recently updated its official cleaning advice, so ccording to Apple, it’s now safe to clean your iPhone with disinfecting wipes if you do it correctly. You should not try to spray any liquid to your phone.
The other option is to use a smartphone sanitizer device that cleans using UV rays. Sanitizers that use ultraviolet (UV) rays to kill bacteria and viruses have been around for a while now and they can kill 99% of bacteria in as little as five minutes. However its efficacy hasn’t been tested against nasties like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Coronavirus effect: Samsung offers UV-C sanitizing service for Galaxy devices. Samsung is using Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) disinfection technology, which uses of uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate bacteria, virus, molds and other pathogenic microorganisms on smartphones.
The UV-C light is capable of destroying nucleic acids and DNA. It will kill many things, but you don’t want that hitting your eye or skin. World Health Organization only states: “UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands, or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.”
Here are some UV C related links:
https://www.light-sources.com/blog/killing-bacteria-with-uv-light/
https://russellsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gtl3-bulb-simple-and-inexpensive.html?m=1
Good UV versus bad UV. All available on eBay.
Protective masks
The protective mask ratings used by hospitals are typically N95, FFP2 or FFP3. FFP2 protection level is 94%. FFP3 protection level is 99%. N95 protection level is 95%. An N95 FFR is a type of respirator which removes particles from the air that are breathed through it. These respirators filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles. N95 FFRs are capable of filtering out all types of particles, including bacteria and viruses. The N95 mask is mainly for use if you already have the virus to keep it from spreading and many have argued that coronavirus is smaller than the 0.3 micron filter rating of the mask and thus, not that helpful, for people outside of healthcare. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General wants consumers to stop buying masks.
Due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a huge shortage of N95 masks. Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation claims that widespread use of masks by the general population could be an effective strategy for slowing down the spread of COVID-19: “Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”.
With masks sold out during the coronavirus outbreak, many people will have to make do with what some scientists have called “the last resort”: the DIY mask. Many people have been working on designs for a DIY mask that may be able to protect those who haven’t been able to secure their own masks. It seems that cotton homemade masks may be quite effective as alternatives and there are also other ideas. For any DIY ideas, be warned that there is no guarantee that those designs are effective. So I don’t recommend to use them as alternative to proper mask when they are available. Bit of proper marks are not available, they can be better than nothing.
Keep in mind the right filter type to use: Hepa filters do have the ability to filter particles and viruses, but they wont protect you 100% of the time. The real secret is layers. The problem is, more layers, more restriction. Keep in mind that charcoal filters will make your air fresher, but have almost no effect on cleaning the air of viruses. Coronavirus virions (or ‘particles’) are spherical particles with diameters of approximately 125 nm (0.125 microns). The smallest particles are 0.06 microns, and the largest are 0.14 microns. This means coronavirus particles are smaller than PM2.5 particles, but bigger than some dust particles and gases.
General information:
Guide to Dust Mask Ratings
https://www.seton.co.uk/your-guide-to-dust-masks-ratings
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
Hengityksensuojaimet
https://www.tays.fi/fi-FI/Ohjeet/Infektioiden_torjunta/Mikrobikohtaiset_ohjeet/Hengityksensuojaimet(51207)
DIY project links:
Homemade N95 Masks In A Time Of Shortage
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/18/homemade-n95-masks-in-a-time-of-shortage/
“According to a studied performed at Cambridge University during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, while surgical masks perform the best at capturing Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria (0.93-1.25 microns) and Bacteriophage MS virus (0.023 microns), vacuum cleaner bags, tea towels, and cotton T-shirts were not too far behind. The coronavirus is 0.1-0.2 microns, well within the range for the results of the tests.”
What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/
“Data shows that DIY and homemade masks are effective at capturing viruses. But if forced to make our own mask, what material is best suited to make a mask? As the coronavirus spread around China, netizens reported making masks with tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton clothing, and even oranges!”
Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/
“DIY masks to protect against from viruses sounds like a crazy idea. Data shows masks work incredibly well, and they’re also really cheap. Surgical masks cost a few pennies, and they’re capable of filtering out 80% of particles down to 0.007 microns (14 times smaller than the coronavirus).”
“The homemade cotton masks captured 50% of 0.02-1 micron particles, compared with 80% for the surgical mask. Although the surgical masks captured 30% more particles, the cotton masks did surprisingly well. The researchers concluded that homemade masks would be better than nothing.”
“The Cambridge data shows that homemade masks made using cotton t-shirts can filter out some particles that are 0.02–1 microns in size. That’s pretty good, however its only one test.”
Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
This old hack doesn’t require any cutting or sewing:
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-make-ninja-mask-out-of-t-shirt.html
Copper 3D makes the free N95 mask design to fight COVID-19 pandemic spread
https://3dprintingcenter.net/2020/03/18/copper-3d-makes-the-free-n95-mask-design-to-fight-covid-19-pandemic-spread/?fbclid=IwAR2iXJD5ybU8ReADakvCyDKsfzuRDOBEWxZ3ACCjZoz2dKNwvy07htUhon4
“Copper 3D – A Chilean manufacturer of innovative antibacterial filaments designed the own version of the popular N95 protective mask and prepared it perfectly optimized for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers of the FDM / FFF type. The project is released under an open-source license and has been simultaneously patent pending to prevent other entities from commercializing it.”
“Copper 3D team quickly got to work on developing the patent for a model similar to a standard N95 mask but with some peculiarities (Antiviral, Reusable, Modular, Washable, Recyclable, Low-Cost), which were completely designed in a digital environment so that it could be downloaded anywhere in the world and 3D printed with any FDM/FFF equipment, even a low cost one. The mask was called “NanoHack”.”
#HackThePandemic site offers the technical details of the N95 mask and download set of STL files for printing on own 3D printer
https://copper3d.com/HACKTHEPANDEMIC/
SaltMask
https://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/pub/web/Cookbook.SaltMask.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956
“This is NOT a straight replacement for a N95 mask. In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Prusa Protective Face Shield – RC2
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/25857-prusa-protective-face-shield-rc1
“In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation
https://medium.com/@matthiassamwald/promoting-simple-do-it-yourself-masks-an-urgent-intervention-for-covid-19-mitigation-14da4100f429
“Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”
“Potentially, simply wrapping a suitable, large cloth around the face is easy to implement (Fig. 2), would arguably be more socially acceptable than surgical masks, and would be superior to a complete lack of face mask use.”
1,350 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
News — “ventilator”
https://www.hackster.io/search?q=ventilator&i=news_articles
Tomi Engdahl says:
World-first tool to improve COVID-19 diagnosis, free & online
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/03/30/world-first-tool-to-improve-covid-19-diagnosis-free-and-online.html
Award-winning Sydney start-up DetectED-X has directed its breast cancer diagnosis tool at the coronavirus, drawing on pandemic cases globally with support from healthcare and industry leaders to ramp up COVID-19 detection.
“The number of patients that are suffering from this life-threatening illness is fast outpacing the number of skilled staff required to accurately diagnose the required lung CT scans,” Professor Brennan said.
“Our platform does not replace expert medical and radiologic training but CovED provides an effective way to recognise rapidly the appearances of COVID-19, which could be critical in a situation of too many patients and not enough expert radiologists, with the modules taking just 1-2 hours to complete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DEFCON 201 Hacker Resource Guide To Combat The Coronavirus Epidemic
https://medium.com/@defcon201/defcon-201-hacker-resource-guide-to-combat-the-coronavirus-epidemic-b86bb0032aa0
Coronavirus AKA COVID-19. We know you are sick of hearing it becuase like the virus itself it is EVERYWHERE! This plauge is causing massive reprocussions to our fellow humans from social distancing lockdowns, deaths, privacy invasions and massive buying of toilet paper.
It can be very easy alone at home in your pyjamas eating M&M’s in the shower for dinner to feel that since you are not a doctor there is nothing you can do to help.
But this is a lie.
Even sitting on your ass doing nothing, with the right resources and set up, there is plenty you can be doing that can make a HUGE impact on flattning the curve, treating sick people and saving lives.
We at DEFCON 201, have reached out to various open source communities, biohackers, STEM enthusiasts and others and have complied a list of various activities YOU can do at home to help yourself and others during these trying times while under house lockdown
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus: Doctor explains the proper way to wash your hands and put on a face mask – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4qwCWwC-Oo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making An N95 Mask For COVID-19 Coronavirus? What You Need To Know
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/03/29/making-an-n95-mask-for-covid-19-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/
By now, you’ve probably heard that there is shortage of N95 masks for health care professionals trying to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The shortage has motivated a number of DIY (do-it-yourself) efforts by well-meaning folks to make masks that are not exactly official N95 masks. While the intents behind such efforts are admirable, it will be important to have the design and manufacturing of such masks follow the science of N95 respirators.
Jersey material does not have the characteristics necessary to filter out very small virus particles. In fact, any DIY efforts should keep in mind the following eight qualities that a N95 mask
“That’s the case with many types of fabric. Even when you use several layers of fabric, it may have too many holes.” He added that one layer of a handkerchief or bandana is only going to filter out less than 10% of particles.
Polypropylene is a commonly used material for N95 masks. To get through a filter made out of interlaced layers of polypropylene fibers, small particles have to wind through a rather tortuous path and as a result tend to get stuc
The mask should have more than one filtering mechanism.
three general mechanisms that N95 masks have to pull particles from the air stream: inertial impaction, diffusion, and electrostatic attraction
The mask shouldn’t suffocate you.
The mask has to fit and form a seal with your face.
All of this being said, N95 respirators are not the only option to protect health care workers from SARS-CoV2 in the air. For example, reusable elastomeric respirators may provide superior protection compared to N95 masks. A drawback is that they can make you “look like Darth Vader,”
It’s heartwarming to see so many people trying to cover the shortage of N95 respirators. Protecting health care professionals should be paramount. Just make sure that the limitations of any DIY mask are clearly covered or rather uncovered for everyone to clearly see. And that the design of any masks trying to serve as replacements for N95 respirators clearly cover the scientific principles that need to be covered.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-math-behind-social-distancing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New innovation could help solve ventilator shortage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdZtMgpxnPI
https://oxvent.org/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ventilator machine – Opensource
All together against Covid-19
https://raulacedo.wixsite.com/arduambu
Tomi Engdahl says:
Together, let’s make COVID-19 history – CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
ARDUINO TEAM — March 27th, 2020
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/27/together-lets-make-covid-19-history/
Combating COVID-19 Conference: A Collaborative Arduino Community Initiative to take place on April 2nd at 5pm CEST
Tomi Engdahl says:
Covid-19: How unprecedented data sharing has led to faster-than-ever outbreak research
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/covid-19-how-unprecedented-data-sharing-has-led-faster-ever-outbreak-research.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech Industry Turns its Tools to Fighting COVID-19
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/tech-industry-turns-its-tools-fighting-covid-19?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=12829&elq_cid=876648
From a pet toy manufacturer to an artificial intelligence company, US businesses are turning their expertise to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AI in the ICU: Ventilators save lives. But they’re also hard on patients’ bodies. Here’s @behnoodg on how AI could improve outcomes in the ICU.
AI Could Provide Moment-by-Moment Nursing for a Hospital’s Sickest Patients
https://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/ai-could-provide-momentbymoment-nursing-for-a-hospitals-sickest-patients
Tomi Engdahl says:
The main challenge to building new technology to address the #coronavirus might be a shortage of engineering talent.
Startups Unveil Tech to Fight Coronavirus; the Challenge May Be Getting Enough Engineers
https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/start-ups/startups-unveil-tech-fight-coronavirus-challenge-engineers
Tech companies big and small are pivoting to join the fight against the new coronavirus. Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, Calif., a fuel cell manufacturer, is repairing and servicing ventilators. British vacuum-cleaner maker Dyson created its own ventilator design and aims to move quickly into large-scale production. Cloud service providers are throwing cycles at the crisis.
The tech world has no shortage of ideas, energy, and even cash. The main bump on the road to building new technology that can address the virus might be a shortage of engineering talent.
Breath Research founder Nirinjan Yee says his startup is scrambling to find “electrical design engineers, someone who can get us low pricing on a Honeywell sensor, FDA compliance experts, and executive talent” to help that company roll out technology to assist COVID-19 patients.
Thirteen startups described their efforts during the event.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment
https://archive.org/details/Handbook-of-COVID-19-Prevention-and-Treatment
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Respirator from Iuri’s Workshop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTQQvhdCS-Y
Tomi Engdahl says:
Help Us Crowdsource Repair Information for Hospital Equipment
https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Can Work From Home When the Lab Is in the Cloud
https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/robotics/robotics-software/scientists-work-from-home-lab-cloud
Working from home is the new normal, at least for those of us whose jobs mostly involve tapping on computer keys. But what about researchers who are synthesizing new chemical compounds or testing them on living tissue or on bacteria in petri dishes? What about those scientists rushing to develop drugs to fight the new coronavirus? Can they work from home?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yale’s most popular class ever is available free online — and the topic is how to be happier in your daily life
https://www.businessinsider.com/coursera-yale-science-of-wellbeing-free-course-review-overview
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to use the GTL3 Bulb: A Simple and Inexpensive UVC Source
http://russellsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gtl3-bulb-simple-and-inexpensive.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://archive.org/details/Handbook-of-COVID-19-Prevention-and-Treatment
Tomi Engdahl says:
To make respirators for the coronavirus response, Ford is repurposing off-the-shelf parts including a seat-cooling fan from its F-150 pickup truck, lithium-ion battery packs from power tools, and respirator hood fabrics from paint booths.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/biomedical/devices/coronavirus-news-automakers-ford-gm-pivot-produce-ventilators-respirators-face-masks
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineering firm Accent Systems claims to have developed a smart wearable, based on the Nordic Semiconductor ASA nRF52832 SoC, that could mean cities no longer have to go into lockdown to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2: the COVID-19 BLE Wristband.
Accent Systems Proposes to Fight COVID-19 Using a Bluetooth Low Energy Wristband
https://www.hackster.io/news/accent-systems-proposes-to-fight-covid-19-using-a-bluetooth-low-energy-wristband-ba68d3b9ea3e
Using a wearable for contact tracing could prevent large-scale lockdowns, claims Accent — but a smartphone app would seem easier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fast production medical shield,enough space filter
https://hackaday.io/project/170665-fast-production-medical-shieldenough-space-filter
As many others, we started to think about how to produce fast and easy medical shields to help local hospitals. this is our final version.
Extremely fast production laser cut medical shield, covering side of the face, and even the hair. Our main goal was the create something which can be produced fast, with a low parts number count, but still can give you enough stability, and provide space for respiratory mask. Production speed: on our very bellow average machines, one complete shield can be cut in 1 minute. You can assemble it under 30 seconds, and the cost is minimal. On this design we used 0.5 PET-G.The product has only 2 parts, right now it’s using a rubber stripe, which can be replaced with any elastic materials in need, with little adjustment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus Magnetic Face Guardian App
https://hackaday.io/project/170677-coronavirus-magnetic-face-guardian-app
Use your phone’s compass and a magnet on your wrist to detect face touching, including audio and vibration alerts.
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Cordova App and Live Web Version
ongoing project
virus COVID-19 personal protective equipment Coronavirus covid19 Pandemic Epidemic face touching mask
Related lists
COVID-19 Response Project List
A project list for all projects that have to do with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
This project is submitted for
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This project was created on 03/31/2020 and last updated 8 hours ago.
Description
Face touching is one of the primary ways people contract SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. People on average touch their faces 23 times an hour. Obviously we should stop touching our faces. Thing is, we can’t. Face touching is a deeply ingrained unconscious behavior. How can we stop touching our faces if we don’t even know we’re doing it? Things like washing hands, social distancing and mask-wearing are easy: you just do them. But how do we not do face touching? Face Guardian is an attempt to solve this problem in a highly scalable fashion. All it requires is a smartphone and a magnet. You put the magnet on your wrist and your phone around your neck. Your phone’s compass (magnetometer) detects when the wrist magnet approaches your face. The app records every time you touch your face, and it also provides vibration and audio alerts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Behind The Scenes Of Folding@Home: How Do You Fight A Virus With Distributed Computing?
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/31/behind-the-scenes-of-foldinghome-how-do-you-fight-a-virus-with-distributed-computing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fail Of The Week: How Not To Die Of Boredom During Isolation
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/01/fail-of-the-week-how-not-to-die-of-boredom-during-isolation/
They say you can’t actually die from boredom, but put a billion or so people into self-isolation, and someone is bound to say, “Hold my beer and watch this.” [Daniel Reardon]’s brush with failure, in the form of getting magnets stuck up his nose while trying to invent a facial touch reminder, probably wasn’t directly life-threatening, but it does underscore the need to be especially careful these days.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/30/astrophysicist-gets-magnets-stuck-up-nose-while-inventing-coronavirus-device
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus Testing Follow-Up: Rapid Immunologic Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-testing-follow-up-rapid-immunologic-testing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rock Out While You Knock Out Germs
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/29/rock-out-while-you-knock-out-germs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
FDA Says PPE Can Be Reused After Trip Through Shipping Container Decontamination System
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/02/fda-says-ppe-can-be-reused-after-trip-through-shipping-container-decontamination-system/
We are hearing so much in the news about shortages of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for healthcare workers. Factories are being asked to perform the impossible when it comes to production be the need is so real, so immediate, and so widespread.
The problem with rapid consumption of PPE is that once it has been exposed to infection, it’s contaminated and can’t be used again. Physically it may be fine, but it retains the capability to infect other people. If there were some way it could be effectively cleaned and decontaminated for re-use, it would reduce the strain on the supply chain and result in a greater availability of PPE for all those who require it.
This is the promise of Battelle’s Critical Care Decontamination System, a shipping-container-sized unit which has received approval from the FDA at break-neck speed.
Each container houses a main chamber into which the infected PPE is loaded protected by an airlock and a set of filters, and the decontamination magic happens courtesy of several hours’ exposure to hydrogen peroxide vapour. The mechanism of using hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant is simple and well-understood, it’s a chemical that readily degrades into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals which in turn attack any organic material they encounter.
All this is most impressive and has the potential to be a game-changer for hard-pressed hospitals in the thick of the epidemic, but it is dangerous to latch onto any one solution and long-term the best solution will still be to build up a sustained manufacturing effort all PPE that is in short supply.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Skin Temperature Scanner
https://hackaday.io/project/170595-skin-temperature-scanner
Build a COVID-19 shield with a device that estimates skin temperature and indicates if a person might have a fever.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Particle Sniffer For Pollution Point Sources
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/02/particle-sniffer-for-pollution-point-sources/
Tomi Engdahl says:
COVID-19 Statistics: Reading The Tea Leaves
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/28/reading-the-tea-leaves/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ventilators 101: What They Do And How They Work
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/ventilators-101-what-they-do-and-how-they-work/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2020/03/27/bosch-kehitti-koronavirustestin-tulos-muutamassa-tunnissa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cybersecurity experts come together to fight coronavirus-related hacking
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-coronavirus-cyber/cybersecurity-experts-come-together-to-fight-coronavirus-related-hacking-idUSKBN21D049
Tomi Engdahl says:
Automating Hand Sanitizer — If You Can Find Any
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/automating-hand-sanitizer-if-you-can-find-any/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hack The Quarantine, Not Just The Medical Equipment
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/hack-the-quarantine-not-just-the-medical-equipment/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus Testing: Just The Facts
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/24/coronavirus-testing-just-the-facts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech Industry Turns Its Tools to Fighting COVID-19
From a pet toy manufacturer to an artificial intelligence company, US businesses are turning their expertise to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/tech-industry-turns-its-tools-fighting-covid-19?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=12829&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
Näin teet oikeaoppisen maskin lakanakankaasta – ei anna täyttä suojaa, viranomaiset varoittavat
https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset/a/890965a2-c8ed-40ad-a933-a333296c2126
Viranomaiset varoittavat luottamasta liikaa itse tehtyyn koronamaskiin, vaikka jotain hyötyä siitä voi olla.
Itse tehty maski voi lisätä infektioriskiä, jos sitä ei pueta, käytetä ja pestä oikein.
Maski kannattaa tehdä ohuesta tiiviistä kankaasta, joka taitellaan moniin kerroksiin.
Itse tehty maski pitää voida pestä 90 asteessa.
Itse tehdyt maskit eivät anna käyttäjälleen varmaa suojaa koronavirukselta. Pahimmillaan itse tehdyt suojaimet voivat olla jopa viruksenlevittäjiä. Maski voi kuitenkin suojata muita, jos maskin käyttäjällä on virustartunta.
Näin varoittavat yhteisesti julkaisemassa tiedotteessaan Turvallisuus- ja kemikaalivirasto (Tukes), Työterveyslaitos ja Lääkealan turvallisuus- ja kehittämiskeskus Fimea.
Itse tehdyistä maskeista varoitus viranomaisilta https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006462949.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Viranomaiset ovat antaneet ohjeet myös sellaisille harrastelijaompelijoille, jotka tekevät nyt maskeja myyntiin. Ohjeet löytyvät Tukesin sivuilta.
Itse tehty maski ei suojaa koronavirukselta – hengityksensuojainten pitää olla turvallisia ja taata riittävä suoja
Mediatiedote 3.4.2020 12.18
https://tukes.fi/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/itse-tehty-maski-ei-suojaa-koronavirukselta-hengityksensuojainten-pitaa-olla-turvallisia-ja-taata-riittava-suoja
Yhteistiedote: Turvallisuus- ja kemikaalivirasto (Tukes), Työterveyslaitos ja Lääkealan turvallisuus- ja kehittämiskeskus Fimea. Viranomaiset muistuttavat, että itse tehdyt maskit eivät suojaa käyttäjäänsä koronavirukselta. Maski voi kuitenkin suojata muita, jos maskin käyttäjällä on virustartunta. Pahimmillaan itse tehdyt suojaimet voivat olla jopa viruksenlevittäjiä, jos oikeanlaisesta hygieniasta ei pidetä huolta.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Five things you need to know about: mRNA vaccines
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/five-things-you-need-know-about-mrna-vaccines.html
The race for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, is on, with 54 different vaccines under development, two of which are already being tested in humans, according to the World Health Organization. And among the different candidates is a new player on the scene – mRNA vaccines.
One mRNA vaccine developed by US company Moderna began its first human trials on 16 March, whereas another under development by German company CureVac has been offered €80 million in investment by the European Commission. But what exactly are mRNA vaccines and why could they be promising in the fight against the coronavirus?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Learning pandas by Exploring COVID-19 Data
https://www.fullstackpython.com/blog/learn-pandas-basic-commands-explore-covid-19-data.html
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control provides daily-updated worldwide COVID-19 data that is easy to download in JSON, CSV or XML formats. In this tutorial, we will use the pandas data analysis tool on the comma-separated values (CSV) data to learn some of the basic pandas commands and explore what is contained within the data set.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ask Hackaday: What Should We Be Doing During Coronavirus Lockdown?
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/23/ask-hackaday-what-should-we-be-doing-during-coronavirus-lockdown/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robotics startup Unity Drive has deployed a fleet of autonomous vans to deliver food and supplies to lockdown areas.
Robot Vehicles Make Contactless Deliveries Amid Coronavirus Quarantine
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/transportation/self-driving/robot-vehicles-make-contactless-deliveries-amid-coronavirus-quarantine
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rice University emergency ventilator plans now online
ApolloBVM, an open-source bag valve mask automation device, could help patients in treatment for COVID-19
http://news.rice.edu/2020/04/03/rice-university-emergency-ventilator-plans-now-online/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Taiwan Contained COVID-19: Early Action, Technology & Millions of Face Masks
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/3/taiwan_coronavirus_response
Taiwan, despite being just 100 miles from mainland China with regular flights to and from Wuhan, has successfully staved off the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The country has so far seen five deaths and just under 350 confirmed cases, and most schools and businesses remain open. How did Taiwan do it? “Aggressive action,” says Dr. Jason Wang, the former project manager for Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Reform Task-force.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus And Folding@Home; More On How Your Computer Helps Medical Research
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/22/coronavirus-and-foldinghome-more-on-how-your-computer-helps-medical-research/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacked Protective Gear Keeps Doctor Safe In The Hot Zone
https://hackaday.com/2020/02/12/hacked-protective-gear-keeps-doctor-safe-in-the-hot-zone/
https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/1226844462552244226
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/21/living-in-corona-times/
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/20/prusa-advises-on-printed-medical-devices-releases-face-shield/