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:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/01/eu-to-propose-a-digital-pass-for-covid-19-vaccination-test-status-to-help-safer-travel/?tpcc=ECFB2021
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Colleges requiring virus-screening tech, from virus symptom-checking apps to temperature check stations and wearables, have not rigorously studied if it works
Colleges That Require Virus-Screening Tech Struggle to Say Whether It Works
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/technology/college-coronavirus-tests.html
Many schools that use fever scanners and symptom checkers have not rigorously studied if the technology has slowed the spread of Covid-19 on campuses.
Before the University of Idaho welcomed students back to campus last fall, it made a big bet on new virus-screening technology.
The university spent $90,000 installing temperature-scanning stations, which look like airport metal detectors, in front of its dining and athletic facilities in Moscow, Idaho. When the system clocks a student walking through with an unusually high temperature, the student is asked to leave and go get tested for Covid-19.
But so far the fever scanners, which detect skin temperature, have caught fewer than 10 people out of the 9,000 students living on or near campus. Even then, university administrators could not say whether the technology had been effective because they have not tracked students flagged with fevers to see if they went on to get tested for the virus.
The University of Idaho is one of hundreds of colleges and universities that adopted fever scanners, symptom checkers, wearable heart-rate monitors and other new Covid-screening technologies this school year. Such tools often cost less than a more validated health intervention: frequent virus testing of all students. They also help colleges showcase their pandemic safety efforts.
But the struggle at many colleges to keep the virus at bay has raised questions about the usefulness of the technologies. A New York Times effort has recorded more than 530,000 virus cases on campuses since the start of the pandemic.
One problem is that temperature scanners and symptom-checking apps cannot catch the estimated 40 percent of people with the coronavirus who do not have symptoms but are still infectious. Temperature scanners can also be wildly inaccurate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cautioned that such symptom-based screening has only “limited effectiveness.”
The schools have a hard time saying whether — or how well — the new devices have worked. Many universities and colleges, including prominent research institutions, are not rigorously studying effectiveness.
“So why are we bothering?” said Bruce Schneier, a prominent security technologist who has described such screening systems as “security theater” — that is, tools that make people feel better without actually improving their safety. “Why spend the money?”
More than 100 schools are using a free virus symptom-checking app, called CampusClear, that can clear students to enter campus buildings. Others are asking students to wear symptom-monitoring devices that can continuously track vital signs like skin temperature. And some have adapted the ID card swiping systems they use to admit students into dorms, libraries and gyms as tools for tracing potential virus exposures.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Build and Test a Robotic Remote-Control for Ventilators
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/tb/stories/blog/38615?utm_source=TB_Main_News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210302&oly_enc_id=2460E0071134A8V
Tomi Engdahl says:
Developer Dhruv Sheth’s POC uses a tinyML model on a Nano 33 BLE Sense to monitor COVID-19 vaccine storage conditions and estimate anomalies in logged data.
Environmental Sensing for Covid Vaccine Cold Chain © GPL3+
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/dhruvsheth_/environmental-sensing-for-covid-vaccine-cold-chain-8a2c38
Using Edge Impulse for environmental sensing to estimate anomalies in logged data to meet storage conditions for Covid vaccine supply chain.
Pharmaceutical companies all over the world are diligently working overtime to produce an accepted COVID-19 vaccine. While this work continues, other companies are already planning how to distribute a potential vaccine. Perhaps the most significant challenge exists in temperature control, as some COVID-19 vaccine candidates will require ultra-low temperatures (ULT), typically ranging from -86°C to -45°C. For COVID-19 vaccines requiring ULTs, maintaining these freezing temperatures throughout the process, from manufacturing to delivery to patients, is necessary. Failure at any point to do so can result in wasted vaccines, which are so desperately needed. Because the temperature level is critical to keeping the COVID-19 vaccine at maximum efficacy, the equipment to monitor and document temperature levels is essential.
Introduction to the PoC
Although Vaccines are ought to be stored at specific temperatures, and the temperature variable is widely considered for Monitoring Vaccine supply chain, however, there are a few more variables that have to be considered here. Vaccine storage units which are highly reliable, cost $5000 – $15000. As a result, low income regions prefer going with Dry Ice Storage units with lower accuracy in keeping up a constant temperature required, in shorts terms, not reliable.
In this situation, along with temperature monitoring, it is important to introduce Humidity and Pressure variables. Pressure helps in assessing whether these storage units are sealed and do not let out air, which may provide constant temperature, but the payload on the storage units increases, decreasing efficacy and increasing costs. Similarly,Humidity measures dampness inside these units. Increased dampness isn’t a good condition for these vaccines.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed millions. It may finally be possible to create a first vaccine to prevent another pandemic just like it.
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Advertiser retains sole responsibility for the content of this article
Preventing influenza pandemics
https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-020-00443-y?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bcon-sabin_vaccine_article_1&fbclid=IwAR2qlQ3iJTP-B3ChO0GIFMve87kRsUkoikOF2Dsfyl0-ds6y_F0HKjA61gc
Today’s flu vaccines cannot prevent a devastating 1918-style pandemic. New advances are fueling a push for a long-lasting, broadly protective vaccine.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan supercomputer shows doubling masks offers little help preventing viral spread
https://news.trust.org/item/20210305030525-fscog
TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) – Japanese supercomputer simulations showed that wearing two masks gave limited benefit in blocking viral spread compared with one properly fitted mask.
The findings in part contradict recent recommendations from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that two masks were better than one at reducing a person’s exposure to the coronavirus.
Using a single surgical-type mask, made of non-woven material, had 85% effectiveness in blocking particles when worn tightly around the nose and face. Adding a polyurethane mask on top boosted the effectiveness to just 89%.
Wearing two non-woven masks isn’t useful because air resistance builds up and causes leakage around the edges.
“The performance of double masking simply does not add up,” wrote the researchers, led by Makoto Tsubokura.
In general, professional grade N95 masks were the best in protecting against infection, followed by non-woven masks, cloth masks, and finally polyurethane types, the study showed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new study demonstrates that breast milk of vaccinated mothers will provide Covid-19 antibodies to infants.
Antibodies For Covid-19 Found In Breast Milk After Vaccine
https://trib.al/5VZjHRn
The recommendations regarding the Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant and breastfeeding women have all pointed to a resounding “yes.” However, the absence of prospective (or even retrospective) data in either of these groups means that all recommendations are based on what is presumed to be safe and effective. Early concerns that the spike protein formed in the bloodstream would mimic the placenta-binding protein, leading to pregnancy loss or infertility, were dispelled quickly. Healthcare workers who were pregnant or nursing were also recommended to go forward with the vaccine. Both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) provided guidance for pregnant women, but, to date, there have not been any completed clinical trials looking at the outcomes of vaccine efficacy and safety during pregnancy. These trials have begun with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and data should be forthcoming in the months ahead.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ultra-high-speed Mask Production Line Put into Use in south China City
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_jWt-4YKBq4&ab_channel=CCTVVideoNewsAgency
Technological innovation has enabled a company in south China’s Guangdong Province to produce 1,000 facial masks in one minute, contributing to China’s ongoing fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
15-year-old Arijit Das trained and deployed a machine learning model that can classify pneumonia using low-cost, low-power devices.
Pneumonia Classification & Detection Using EdgeML
https://www.hackster.io/arijit_das_student/pneumonia-classification-detection-using-edgeml-991e18
AI-based pneumonia classifier using Edge Impulse which can run on cheap devices consuming less than 1 mW.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Advertiser retains sole responsibility for the content of this article
Pandemic fast-tracks telemedicine for treating diabetes
https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-020-00302-w?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bcon-Sanofi_telemedicine_20210216&utm_content=Risk&fbclid=IwAR2qpCmCamqGkle8euCm5tAdXf_8keBy5bSajE0TR7gNkjTpiHwm633Saf0
The adoption of telemedicine for treating diabetes in Japan and Canada has been greatly accelerated by measures introduced to limit the spread of COVID-19
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/tekniset-artikkelit/11878-cobotit-saivat-lisavauhtia-pandemiasta
Tomi Engdahl says:
What To Know About The Suspension Of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine In European Countries
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/what-to-know-about-the-suspension-of-oxfordastrazeneca-vaccine-in-european-countries/
A number of European countries have suspended the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following a small number of reports of people developing blood clots after getting the shot.
However, this move is just a precautionary measure. Out of the five million people in Europe who have received the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, there have been 30 cases of “thromboembolic events.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has looked to calm fears, launching a preliminary investigation into the issue that found there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these complications. Many other independent scientists in the UK have also said the news shouldn’t necessarily cause alarm, noting the suspension is a “super-cautious approach” and the overwhelming majority of evidence shows the vaccines are safe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lab Study Suggests Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Effective Against Variants After Second Dose
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2021/03/08/lab-study-suggests-pfizerbiontech-vaccine-effective-against-variants-after-second-dose/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://respiray.com/product/respiray-wearable-uv-c-air-purifier/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Star Wars Analogy Explains How RNA Vaccines Work
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2021/02/25/coronavirus-star-wars-mrna-vaccine/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www2.helsinki.fi/fi/uutiset/terveys/helsingin-yliopisto-ja-ita-suomen-yliopisto-mukaan-suomalaiseen-koronarokoteyritykseen
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surgical masks are made primarily of polypropylene which releases a host of toxic chemicals when burned.
Why You Should Not Burn Your Covid-19 Masks. Here Are The Potential Health Hazards.
https://trib.al/ItgpBgW
Many of the masks appeared to be blue surgical face masks, which are often primarily made of polypropylene, a type of plastic. Polypropylene is widely used as it is also considered “food safe” and is used in a lot of plastic food packaging. But like many types of plastic if burned, release lots of toxic and harmful chemicals. Both children and adults were pictured standing close to the barrel as the masks burned inside, giving off a lot of smoke. So what chemicals were likely to be in that smoke, which the protesters were breathing in?
Thankfully, a truly fascinating scientific review paper from 1988 published in the Journal of the American College of Toxicology looked at studies which had burned polypropylene in several different and exciting ways, including just setting fire to it in normal air, which is probably the most similar method to that used by the Idaho mask burners.
According to the paper, burning polypropylene results in the formation of dozens of different chemicals, some pretty well known and not of concern in this scenario, such as water and carbon dioxide, but some which are certainly toxic. These include formaldehyde, most well-known for preserving biological specimens, acetone- the strong smelling compound used in nail polish remover and methanol, the main component of anti-freeze. Others released by burning polypropylene include xylene, which is used in some laboratories to prepare tissues for microscopy, but only in a specialized fume hood due to its toxic properties, and benzene, a dangerous chemical found in car exhaust and cigarette smoke. Several chemicals such as toluene, found in paint thinner, were also detected. Many of these compounds can cause eye irritation and respiratory problems when breathed in and some of the chemicals found are also listed as probable, or possible carcinogens – linked to the development of cancers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Diagnosis-wide analysis of COVID-19 complications: an exposure-crossover study
https://www.cmaj.ca/content/193/1/E10
Tomi Engdahl says:
Isolating the cause has allowed scientists to develop a treatment for the blot clots once diagnosed.
European Scientists Say They Know Why AstraZeneca’s Vaccine Is Causing Rare Blood Clots
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2021/03/19/european-scientists-say-they-know-why-astrazenecas-vaccine-is-causing-rare-blood-clots/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Researchers in Germany and Norway say they’ve isolated the cause of extremely rare blood clots caused by AstraZeneca’s vaccine, allowing doctors to treat it.
“Very, very few people will develop this complication,” Professor Andreas Greinacher said in a press conference Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. “But if it happens, we now know how to treat the patients.”
Several European countries this week briefly halted use of the vaccine over fears of blood clots, which have been reported 37 times among the 17 million inoculated with the vaccine. The countries resumed use after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) determined the AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective” and that the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Still, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have decided to keep the vaccine on hold until more research is done and public health experts worry the debacle will erode confidence in vaccines more generally.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Coalition of Microsoft, Salesforce, and healthcare providers to release a global “tamper-proof” standard for COVID-19 proof of vaccination apps in April — Microsoft, Salesforce contribute to software framework for apps that provide digital proof of vaccination to be used for travel, returning to work
Big Tech Helps Set Standards for Covid-19 Vaccine Verification
https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-tech-helps-set-standards-for-covid-19-vaccine-verification-11616151614?mod=djemalertNEWS
Microsoft, Salesforce contribute to software framework for apps that provide digital proof of vaccination to be used for travel, returning to work
A coalition that includes tech giants and healthcare providers is preparing to release global standards for mobile apps that verify whether someone has had a Covid-19 vaccine.
The Vaccination Credential Initiative standards will incorporate digitally-verified clinical data with a name and birth date that can be also displayed as machine-readable QR codes.
After the open-source standards are released next month, they can be integrated into mobile apps that people could use to verify they have been vaccinated to gain admission to offices, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and other public places.
Companies and large venues could also choose to request additional verification, such as a driver’s license, or temperature checks in addition to seeing an individual’s vaccine record
Tomi Engdahl says:
But even as planes remain a relatively safe (and increasingly relied upon) means of travel, a recent flight from San Diego to New York taught me an important lesson: When it comes to Covid-19, the goal of the airline industry isn’t to maximize passenger safety. It’s to maximize the feeling of safety.
https://trib.al/LRFTc0x
Tomi Engdahl says:
When it comes to preventing coronavirus transmission, airlines talk a good game.
The illusion of safety is all around us. For example, we all know that wearing a mask is scientifically proven to diminish viral transmission. That’s why passengers are reminded frequently to wear them at the airport and on board the aircraft. But masks prove ineffective when removed for 15 minutes while eating, drinking and chatting up the person seated next to you on the plane.
U.S. carriers face a difficult dilemma. They could maximize safety by screening people for Covid-19 before boarding, keeping passengers six feet apart at all times and implementing aggressive contact-tracing efforts. But each measure comes with a high risk of losing customers and revenue.
https://trib.al/LRFTc0x
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus: How the common cold can boot out Covid
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56483445
The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out of the body’s cells, say researchers.
Some viruses are known to compete in order to be the one that causes an infection.
And University of Glasgow scientists say it appears cold-causing rhinovirus trumps coronavirus.
The benefits might be short-lived but rhinovirus is so widespread, they add, it could still help to suppress Covid.
Influenza is one of the most selfish viruses around, and nearly always infects alone.
If rhinovirus and Sars-CoV-2 were released at the same time, only rhinovirus is successful. If rhinovirus had a 24-hour head start then Sars-CoV-2 does not get a look in. And even when Sars-CoV-2 had 24-hours to get started, rhinovirus boots it out.
“Sars-CoV-2 never takes off, it is heavily inhibited by rhinovirus,” Dr Pablo Murcia told BBC News.
He added: “This is absolutely exciting because if you have a high prevalence of rhinovirus, it could stop new Sars-CoV-2 infections.”
Similar effects have been seen before. A large rhinovirus outbreak may have delayed the 2009 swine flu pandemic in parts of Europe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yllätystulos tutkimuksessa: tavallinen flunssavirus syrjäyttää jopa koronan – rokote silti paras ase
https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset/a/ee84763f-ccaa-43b1-bd9a-b7c0d66f1255
Tomi Engdahl says:
55 miljoonaa koronarokotetta annettu EU:ssa – Suomi yhdessä asiassa kärkikastia ja toisessa pohjasakkaa
Vaaditut kaksi rokoteannosta saaneita on Suomessa suhteellisen vähän.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/2d19bc14-8932-45f7-8c27-1955fed6dc4a
10,4 prosenttia Euroopan unionin ja Euroopan talousalueen jäsenmaiden kansalaisista on saanut vähintään yhden koronavirusrokoteannoksen. Kahden rokoteannoksen saaneita on 4,5 prosenttia alueen väestöstä.
Luvut perustuvat Euroopan tautienehkäisy- ja valvontakeskus ECDC:n jatkuvaan rokotusseurantaan. Kaiken kaikkiaan EU- ja ETA-alueella on tiistaihin mennessä annettu 55 224 844 koronarokoteannosta.
Suomi on yhden rokoteannoksen saaneiden osuuden osalta selvästi EU:n keskiarvoa edellä. ECDC:n mukaan 15 prosenttia suomalaisista on saanut vähintään yhden koronapistoksen. Edellä ovat vain piskuinen Malta (18,3) ja Unkari (17,9).
Kaksi rokoteannosta saaneiden osuudessa Suomi on sen sijaan EU- ja ETA-maista kolmanneksi viimeinen ja alueen keskiarvoa perässä. Suomea, jossa 1,9 prosenttia väestöstä on saanut molemmat rokoteannokset, hitaampia ovat olleet vain Latvia (1,2) ja Bulgaria (1,2). Lähes kaikki muut maat ovat rokottaneet kahdella annoksella noin 4–6 prosenttia kansalaisistaan.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OxiKit Oxygen Concentrator
High Flow Oxygen Concentrator 15 LPM at 90%+ Concentrated o2
https://hackaday.io/project/178334-oxikit-oxygen-concentrator
24 LPM at 92% Concentration Milestone Reached with our Oxikit Project!
Oxikit is a collaboration effort with the help of 200+ volunteers known as the Pillar Tribe made up of Top Engineers, Fortune 100 executives, Chief Medical Directors, Scientists and innovative Entrepreneurs led to a rapid collaboration to bring the OxiKit to life.
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‣ Offload 50-75% of demand off the healthcare system
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‣ Less deaths, catch them early- Less infected healthcare pros
‣ Easy to build designs even 16 year olds can assemble using common and locally found parts
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/common-cold-virus-appears-to-stop-sarscov2-infecting-cells/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mounting evidence suggests that tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo may be linked to COVID-19, according to a systematic review of dozens of studies.
COVID-19 Appears To Be Linked To Tinnitus, Hearing Loss, And Vertigo
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/covid19-appears-to-be-linked-to-tinnitus-hearing-loss-and-vertigo/
Mounting evidence is showing that COVID-19 may have some link to tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo.
In a new study, published this week in the International Journal of Audiology, researchers at the University of Manchester and Manchester Biomedical Research Centre in the UK carried out a systematic review of dozens of studies investigating the link between COVID-19 and auditory symptoms.
Among people who were infected with COVID-19, around 7.6 percent suffered from hearing loss and 14 percent experienced tinnitus, a persistent ringing or whooshing sound in the ears. A further 14.8 percent of people also reported vertigo, a dizzy sensation that everything is spinning around you. This sensation is usually caused by a problem with your inner ear, as this is the HQ of the vestibular system responsible for balance.
While it’s clear there is some link between COVID-19 and damaging effects on the auditory system, the researchers stressed that the nature of this association remains unclear. Like many aspects of the unfolding pandemic, further research is needed before any sturdy conclusions are reached.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2021/03/24/a-simple-but-effective-high-flow-oxygen-concentrator-from-hardware-store-parts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
CUOMO’S COVID-19 VACCINE PASSPORT LEAVES USERS CLUELESS ABOUT PRIVACY
https://theintercept.com/2021/03/24/andrew-cuomo-covid-ibm-blockchain/
A New York state system for proving that you’ve been vaccinated uses overhyped blockchain technology — and leaves many privacy questions unanswered.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flu Vaccine Linked To Fewer and Less Severe Covid Cases
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/flu-vaccine-linked-to-fewer-and-less-severe-covid-cases/
A new study has found an intriguing association between people who received a flu shot in the 2019/2020 flu season and COVID-19. When the pandemic hit, these people were less likely to test positive for the disease, and those who did get it had on average few complications compared to the people who had not taken the vaccine.
The work is published in the American Journal of Infection Control and looked at 27,201 people who were tested for COVID-19 by July 2020. Of those, 1,218 people tested positive for COVID-19. When the people sampled were divided into those who received a flu vaccine in the year before and who hadn’t, the team found a difference.
Of those who received a flu vaccine, 4 percent tested positive for COVID-19, while the fraction that didn’t receive it was higher at 4.9 percent.
The team also showed that people who received their flu shot were also less likely to require hospitalization compared to those that did not. It is unclear at this stage if the cause for this association is biological (the flu vaccine somehow prepares the immune system against a different type of virus) or if it is social.
“It is possible that patients who receive their flu vaccine are also people who are practicing more social distancing and following CDC guidelines. However, it is also plausible that there could be a direct biological effect of the flu vaccine on the immune system relevant for the fight against SARS-CoV-2 virus,” senior author Professor Marion Hofmann Bowman, from the Michigan Medicine Frankel Cardiovascular Center, said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vaccine passports: necessary safety measure or unacceptable privacy risk?
https://cybernews.com/privacy/vaccine-passports-necessary-safety-measure-or-unacceptable-privacy-risk/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=rm&utm_content=vaccine&fbclid=IwAR0vGahzTQ1RwNXGKzWorMzE64G06cI_1OZLNPLpXJlWd4aYT6lqHZsg6lw
Securing the trust of citizens is often harder than it is to secure digital apps.
As Covid vaccines have begun their gradual and somewhat uneven rollout around the world, all gazes have landed upon Israel as they soar ahead. Indeed, so proficient has the country been in vaccinating its population that at the start of March society began to open in earnest.
At the heart of the policy was the app developed by the government to prove that someone had received the jab.
The so-called “Green Pass” has been mired in controversy, not least because of the security issues associated with it.
Within weeks of its release users began complaining about the poor usability of the app, with it proving to be a significant consumer of the device’s memory.
Unsecure verification
Israeli security researchers Dr Eyal Ronen and Prof. Orr Dunkelman found a number of issues with the code, not least in the fact that the developers didn’t appear to use cryptographic algorithms in the app.
What’s more, the verification method behind the QR code used by the app was found not to match the specifications published by the Israeli Health Ministry, which meant that the code was bloated and unduly complicated.
The pair also found that the app had the possibility of an information leak due to flaws in the process used to allow users to contact the Health Ministry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
After months of being made wary of specious claims about existing drugs’ effectiveness in fighting COVID-19, the U.S. medical establishment may be needlessly turning a blind eye to a remedy with science to back it up.
Optical Mouse Inventor Hunts for a Covid Cure—and May Have Found One
https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/tech-careers/optical-mouse-inventor-hunts-for-a-covid-cureand-may-have-found-one
After talking to scientists about what was—and wasn’t—being done in the fight against Covid, Kirsch spotted an opportunity in an area he knew something about: funding researchers working on repurposing drugs. Since then, he’s been spending what he says is 18 hours a day talking to researchers, raising money to add to his own funds invested in the effort, and, most recently, pushing the FDA to expedite processing of an emergency-use authorization for fluvoxamine, a widely used antidepressant .
Kirsch believes that fluvoxamine will be a game changer: an inexpensive, easy-to-take pill with few side effects that has proven—in a double-blind, peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association—to prevent severe illness and death from the coronavirus.
when asked why he took the child under his wing, “You can’t buy enthusiasm.”
IEEE Spectrum: How did you get started with all of this?
Steve Kirsch: It was the third week in March when we realized that [the coronavirus] is a big problem. I started calling my scientist friends, some who I had funded before, and was referred to infectious disease experts. These experts all said that repurposed drugs would be the fastest and the cheapest way to end the pandemic. I also found that the scientists that were pursuing repurposed drugs weren’t getting any funding.
I thought that, for $20 million, we could probably end this pandemic. We could fund all the most promising researchers working on the most promising drugs. And, I thought, it seems like I should be able to raise $20 million quickly from my millionaire friends. I’ll put in a million myself, all I have to find is 19 other like-minded people.
Spectrum: That’s the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF)?
Kirsch: Yes. So I wrote a check. But it took us about a year to raise just $5 million. The only other million-dollar donors were the Skoll Foundation and the Flu Lab.
Spectrum: So that’s the money. How did you find the scientists?
Kirsch: They found us. I tried to advertise, but nobody would print the op-eds I’d written, until, they said, I proved that repurposing drugs works for COVID. We couldn’t get any publicity. It was only because somebody who had heard about us mentioned us in letter to the editor of the New York Times that the guys doing fluvoxamine found out about us. They applied for a grant, we had our scientific advisory board review the paperwork, and we gave them the $67,000 they asked for in about a week. That allowed them to complete their study.
Spectrum: And it was published in JAMA.
Kirsch: Yes, on November 12th. But I had the results on August 24th. They showed a zero-percent hospitalization rate versus an 8.6 percent hospitalization rate in the group that got the placebo.
And we had other papers confirming that the drug really works. There was an earlier paper showing that fluvoxamine was successful in treating sepsis. And there was an observational study in France that SSRIs [like fluvoxamine] are protective [against COVID]. Meanwhile, we couldn’t find a shred of evidence that showed that fluvoxamine would not be effective against this disease.
Spectrum: To date, CETF has reviewed 60 proposals and funded 14. Are any others looking as good as fluvoxamine?
Kirsch: I think that we’ll be able announce results from the camostat mesylate [a protease inhibitor used to treat pancreatitis] trial pretty soon. I expect that those will be quite impressive as well.
Spectrum: But now you’re spending most of your time evangelizing fluvoxamine?
Kirsch: We applied for an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA in late January. Lately, we’ve been just trying to find out how that’s going, like, ‘What do you guys think? Can we have a conversation? We’ve got new data.’
Tomi Engdahl says:
This smart bandage can detect two major COVID-19 symptoms: erratic breathing and fever
This Smart Bandage Could Hasten Healing and Might Even Detect COVID
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-member-news/this-smart-bandage-could-hasten-healing-and-might-even-detect-covid
THE INSTITUTE Patients with an open wound, such as a bedsore or a foot ulcer, need to be checked frequently to see how well it is healing. That can require regular trips to a doctor’s office. But patients might not have to make as many of those visits, thanks to a new smart bandage developed by IEEE Fellow Ravinder Dahiya and other researchers at the University of Glasgow. Dahiya is with the university’s Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies group.
The flexible adhesive patch is 3 centimeters by 6 cm and can be used to apply pressure to help a wound heal. It is the first bandage to use sensors that simultaneously measure how much strain is being put on the skin and the patient’s temperature, which can affect the healing process. The readings from the dressing can be sent to a health care provider via a smartphone app the researchers developed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sunshine appears to be an Achilles heel of SARS-CoV-2.
Sunlight Might Be Really Good At Destroying Coronavirus, Raising Some Interesting Questions
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/sunlight-is-really-good-at-destroying-coronavirus-raising-some-interesting-questions/
Sunshine might be an Achilles heel of SARS-CoV-2. It’s been known for some time that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is quickly destroyed on a surface that’s doused in simulated sunlight, but a team of scientists now argues the virus may be even more susceptible to ultraviolet radiation than previously appreciated.
lab experiments show sunlight inactivation that’s several times faster than predicted by theory. In fact, viruses were inactivated more than eight times faster in the experiments than would have been predicted by the theory.
To explain this gap, they argue that we need to look beyond Ultraviolet B (UVB), the higher energy ultraviolet light associated with skin burning, and start paying more attention to Ultraviolet A (UVA), the lower energy component of sunlight associated with skin aging.
“The theory assumes that inactivation works by having UV-B hit the RNA of the virus, damaging it,” Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz, lead author from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara, said in a statement.
“People think of UV-A as not having much of an effect, but it might be interacting with some of the molecules in the medium,” added Luzzatto-Fegiz.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vaccine side effects: My experience of them and what they mean
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56375307
Let’s be clear, even with hindsight I’d do it all again. I’d rather have side effects than Covid, or another year of restrictions, or to accidentally pass the virus onto a loved one.
I had my first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at 0930 in the morning. That evening I spiralled rapidly downhill and could barely scrape myself out of bed for the next three days.
The worst was the migraine and vomiting, but I also had aches, chills and exhaustion.
Covid vaccines “trick” the body into thinking it is fighting coronavirus and tap into our natural immune response to an infection.
First there is a reaction in the arm where you are injected – think swelling and soreness – as the immune system swings into gear.
This can progress to affect the rest of the body and cause flu-like symptoms including fever, chills and nausea.
“That’s caused by the inflammatory response,” Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease at Edinburgh University, told me.
However, side effects vary massively from one person to another. Some will not notice a thing; others will feel groggy, but good enough to go to work; others will need to ride it out in bed.
“The older you are, the less the side effects – the over-70s have almost no side effects.”
Will my second dose be bad too?
“Your second dose will be innocuous, the second dose is very mild in comparison to the first,” said Prof Pollard, who ran the Oxford vaccines trials.
However, he did warn that some data suggested the second Pfizer dose might lead to slightly more side effects than the first.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We Ran Tests on Every State’s COVID-19 Vaccine Website
The results, measuring accessibility and privacy protections, were not always great
By Jon Keegan and Colin Lecher
March 24, 2021 08:00 ET
https://themarkup.org/coronavirus/2021/03/24/we-ran-tests-on-every-states-covid-19-vaccine-website
Christine Meyer, a Pennsylvania doctor, has seen some patients come in recently with concerning symptoms: uncontrolled hypertension, spikes in blood sugar levels. The stress of trying to find an appointment to get a COVID-19 vaccine, she said, is “literally making them physically ill.”
“Listen, if your blood pressure gets any higher over this vaccine,” she’s told them, “you’re going to have a much bigger problem than not getting a vaccine.”
One big source of frustration: websites that are difficult to navigate for less savvy web users. Similar to other sites, the Pennsylvania site leads users to an interactive map of blue dots, which then leads out to pharmacies and local health departments with their own sign-up procedures. It’s a system with “nothing intuitive about it,” Meyer said.
“You have an 80-year-old patient, all they’re trying to do is get a vaccine, and they have 50 different places to go try to sign up,” she said, “but no feedback on whether their sign-up worked, no feedback on how long it would take to get a vaccine through that sign-up.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The regulator noted that no such clotting incidents were observed among people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
U.K. Reports 30 Cases Of Rare Blood Clots Linked To AstraZeneca Vaccine, Insists Benefits Outweigh Any Risks
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/04/02/uk-reports-30-cases-of-rare-blood-clots-linked-to-astrazeneca-vaccine-insists-benefits-outweigh-any-risks/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
The U.K. has recorded 30 cases of rare blood clotting events after the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the country’s drug regulator announced on Thursday evening but insisted that the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh any possible risks, unlike other countries in Europe who have either suspended or restricted the use of the vaccine due to the rare adverse incidents.
In its weekly summary, U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) noted, it had received 22 reports of rare brain blood clots and 8 reports of other blood clotting events out of a total of 18.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered as of March 24.
35.6 million. That’s the total number of vaccine doses that the U.K. has administered so far with about 60% of its adult population receiving at least one dose according to the U.K. government’s tracker. While this makes it one of the widest rollouts of the vaccine anywhere in the world, it comes with a major caveat as the country has been prioritizing first doses and only 8% of its adult population has been fully inoculated.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/sunlight-is-really-good-at-destroying-coronavirus-raising-some-interesting-questions/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vaccine Passports: What Are They, Are They Needed, And Why Do Many People Oppose Them?
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/vaccine-passports-what-are-they-are-they-needed-and-why-do-many-people-oppose-them/
Recently, the leading party in the UK Government put forward the idea of a vaccine passport, involving documentation that states the holder has been vaccinated against COVID-19. These passports were quickly opposed by many politicians and the general public, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to press forward with the idea, as The Telegraph claims vaccine passports will be trialed at UK events within weeks.
But what are vaccine passports, why do the UK and US Governments want them so badly, and why are many people so opposed to them?
WHAT IS A VACCINE PASSPORT?
A vaccine passport acts much in the same way as a regular passport, but instead of stating your personal details and nationality, they state your record of vaccinations. Similar ideas have been used before, such as for use against yellow fever – people that have had the yellow fever vaccination are often required to show proof, called an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), before they may enter specific countries. This allows border authorities strict control over possible hazards entering the country, and in times of threat from infectious disease, the ability to turn away people that are not entirely safe from spreading infection.
In cases involving international travel, a vaccine passport is almost inevitable for travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU is currently developing an EU vaccine pass, which would allow free movement between EU countries so long as you’ve had your jab, and Denmark is rolling out their “Coronapas”, which will be linked to a digital system.
However, some are suggesting that their use should be extended beyond international travel, also being used nationally as a method of allowing or denying entry into places such as restaurants, pubs, and ticketed events.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Balch decided to construct his own ECG device using an Arduino Nano and an integrated 320×240 SPI display.
An Arduino ECG device with an integrated display
https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/04/06/an-arduino-ecg-device-with-an-integrated-display/
As Peter Balch explains, COVID-19 can sometimes give rise to cardiac complications. So, while not presented as an actual piece of medical equipment, he decided to construct an ECG (electrocardiogram) unit using an Arduino Nano for control along with an integrated 320×240 SPI display.
His battery-operated device features an AD8232 heart rate monitor module to acquire data from the human subject.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Balch’s Arduino-Driven Electrocardiogram Includes Three Smart Display Modes
Low-cost, high-detail build triggered by interest in heart rate monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.hackster.io/news/peter-balch-s-arduino-driven-electrocardiogram-includes-three-smart-display-modes-9a36539211fb
Tomi Engdahl says:
This futuristic-looking device actively discourages you from touching your face
https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/04/02/this-futuristic-looking-device-actively-discourages-you-from-touching-your-face/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-stop-face-touching-device-does-exactly-what-it-sounds-like-fdfa776ff15e
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11993-suomalainen-koronapikatesti-jattikaupan-syyna
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jegatheesan Soundarapandian has come up with an auto-adjustable stand for dispensing hand sanitizer to people both tall and short.
This auto-adjusting PVC system lifts hand sanitizer to the perfect height
https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/04/12/this-auto-adjusting-pvc-system-lifts-hand-sanitizer-to-the-perfect-height/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Covid eight times more likely to cause rare brain clot than AstraZeneca vaccine, study finds
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/covid-brain-clot-astrazeneca-vaccine-b1831876.html
‘Covid-19 risk is higher than seen with current vaccines, even for those under 30,’ says study co-author
The risk of developing a rare brain clot from Covid-19 is about eight times greater than from the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Oxford, who are not linked to the vaccine, also found that people infected with coronavirus are “manyfold times” more likely than normal to develop the rare clotting disorder, known as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), where blood clots in the veins that run from the brain.
“There’s no doubt that Covid is a much greater risk of this [condition] than any of the vaccines,” said Professor Paul Harrison, a co-author of the study.
The research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, drew comparisons between more than 500,000 Covid-19 patients in the US and 34 million people in Europe who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, as well as the background level of CVT in the general population.
For Covid-19, the incidence rate of CVT stands at 39 cases per one million people, the study showed. But for a million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab, there will be just five cases of CVT over a two-week period.
“Firstly, Covid-19 markedly increases the risk of CVT, adding to the list of blood clotting problems this infection causes,” he said.
“Secondly, the Covid-19 risk is higher than seen with the current vaccines, even for those under 30; something that should be taken into account when considering the balances between risks and benefits for vaccination.”
The researchers said that out of the 20 cases of CVT detected among 513,000 Covid patients, six occurred in people under 30.
Professor Kevin McConway, of the Open University, who was not involved in the study, said: “This new piece of research throws a bit more light, though the researchers make it clear that they do not have all the answers, and that more data and more analysis and interpretation are necessary.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
OxiKit Oxygen Concentrator
https://hackaday.io/project/178334-oxikit-oxygen-concentrator
High Flow Oxygen Concentrator 15 LPM at 90%+ Concentrated o2 https://oxikit.com
Tomi Engdahl says:
A combination of compounds found in cannabis showed the potential to treat or even prevent coronavirus infections in human lung cells, according to recently published research.
Compounds In Cannabis Show Promise As A Treatment For Coronavirus Infections
https://trib.al/KtEt1Ba
A combination of compounds found in cannabis showed the potential to treat or even prevent coronavirus infections in human lung cells, according to recently published research. The study, “In Vitro Evaluation of the Activity of Terpenes and Cannabidiol against Human Coronavirus E229,” was published by the peer-reviewed journal Life on March 29.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ChenTheDesignMaker/stop-face-touching-device-9296c2