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8 Devices that Help Treat, Manage, or Monitor COVID-19 Symptoms

MD+DI takes a look at eight devices used to either help treat or manage symptoms […]

MD+DI takes a look at eight devices used to either help treat or manage symptoms of the virus. Some of these devices are in development and some of these technologies have been around for a while -just used for something different.
As the novel coronavirus story continues to unfold the focus is shifting toward a viable vaccine to treat the virus. But what about the medtech solutions that are being developed or are available now to help treat and manage the symptoms of COVID-19?
MD+DI takes a hard look at eight device-related solutions that can help with the symptoms caused by COVID-19.

Wearable Streams Symptoms Data

A device originally designed by Northwestern University engineers to record progress in stroke patients has been repurposed to study the effects of COVID-19 as it runs its course through the human body, university officials said. The device, which looks like a thick, rubbery Band-Aid and attaches to the neck with adhesive, collects around-the-clock data on coughs, temperature, and breathing, said John Rogers, the biomedical engineering professor leading the project in partnership with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where patients have been participating in a trial that started two and a half weeks ago. So far, scientists have collected about 3,000 hours of data from roughly two dozen COVID-19 patients.

Fitbit’s Low-Cost Ventilator

Fitbit joined in the fight against COVID-19 back in June, when it announced it was awarded Emergency Use Authorization from FDA for a low-cost ventilator. The company said after seeing the need for ventilators, it applied its deep in-house expertise in advanced sensor development and hardware design to quickly create Fitbit Flow, an automatic resuscitator inspired by the MIT E-Vent Design Toolbox and based on specifications for Rapidly Manufactured Ventilation Systems.

ExThera Medical’s Serpah 100 Blood Fliter

ExThera Medical has developed Seraph 100 Blood filter, which won Emergency Use Authorization to help COVID-19 patients.  The device was selected to be in a multi-center randomized clinical trial because it showed encouraging preliminary results in critically ill COVID-19 patients at a military hospital in the U.S. and 14 other hospitals in Europe. The Department of Defense is funding the trial.
Here’s how Seraph works. As a patient’s blood flows through the Seraph filter, it passes over tiny beads with receptors that mimic the receptors on human cells that pathogens target when they invade the body. Harmful substances are quickly captured and adsorbed onto the surface of the beads and are thereby removed from the bloodstream. Seraph does not add anything to the blood, which is returned to the patient with blood cells and proteins intact. Seraph targets the pathogens that cause the infection, while it also binds and removes harmful substances generated by the pathogen and by the body’s response to the infection.

A Wearable to Detect COVID-19

Boston, MA-based Empatica and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority have joined forces to bring wearables to COVID-19 detection.
The two are working together to validate Aura, a system that will alert individuals when it detects a likely SARS-CoV-2 infection.  Aura will use Empatica’s medical smartwatches, software, and artificial intelligence capabilities.
The aim is to validate Empatica’s algorithm in real-life settings, with the participation of healthcare workers who are exposed to a high viral load while treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. They will wear the E4, Empatica’s medical-grade research wearable wristband, for 30 days, and their physiological data will be reviewed against daily nasopharyngeal (NP) samples and a daily qRT-PCR swab, ensuring the highest ground truth.

RF Signals for COVID-19 Surveillance in Nursing Homes

A device developed at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) was recently updated to identify and distinguish between individuals using radio-frequency signals.
The technology could potentially help retirement homes and assisted living centers anticipate a COVID-19 outbreak. The best part? It’s developer said it doesn’t compromise privacy.
The MIT CSAIL researchers, led by professor Dina Katabi, have actually been working on the radio-frequency re-identification (RF-ReID) system for several years and have previously proven its ability to reliably measure vital signs like heart rate and breathing. This week MIT CSAIL reported that the team published a new paper to show they can uniquely identify a person they’ve monitored before, from a larger set of upwards of 40 different subjects, all while protecting the individuals’ privacy.

Original Article: (https://www.mddionline.com/slideshows/8-devices-help-treat-manage-or-monitor-covid-19-symptoms)

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