Sri Lanka’s Nanotechnology Institute leads battle against Covid 19 with innovative solutions
Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), which is a pioneering research institute in the country, is reportedly leading the battle against Covid 19 with several homegrown innovative solutions.
‘Hale’ is the latest addition to the list of innovations by SLINTEC, a low-cost, ultra-thin and easily-attachable respiratory monitoring smart sensor that has been developed in collaboration with CirQ Labs, which is another high-tech innovation hub specialising in healthcare solutions, the Daily FT reported.
According to the report, the developed ‘Hale’ smart sensor can be attached to any face mask and it then captures and records the variations detected in exhaled breath characteristics.
By analysing the gathered data with advanced data processing techniques, Hale’ is capable of alerting the wearer via a smartphone app in a situation where the safety of the mask wearer is compromised due to a loosened mask or a saturated filtering layer.
Also, ‘Hale’ can monitor the wearer’s respiratory rate in real time, which are used to direct users for medical attention if it is beyond normal conditions.
Reports also note that ‘Hale’ enables remote monitoring of patients and is extremely useful in treating patients with highly contagious respiratory diseases such as Covid-19 without increasing the risk of medical staff getting infected.
At present, many hospitals do not have a system available to remotely monitor the respiratory rate and core body temperature of the patients, which are key parameters in Covid-19 patient management. ‘Hale’ smart sensor system remotely monitors respiratory rate, breathing pattern and core body temperature variations of the patients and displays this data on a dashboard at the nursing station of the hospital wards with Covid-19 patients.
If there are any significant variations, medical staff will be notified, the report added.
The production of local innovations to combat Covid 19 has now reached great heights. The latest innovation ‘Hale’ is likely one of the key innovations by Sri Lanka. The product holds the potential of being well accepted by global markets. Foreign businesses exploring products aimed at combating Covid 19 could explore the business potential in the promotion and sale of this locally manufactured product.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12082020/Z_5 |