Source: SEATNecessity is the mother of invention, and nowhere is that more true than when the world finds itself in the middle of a global pandemic without the appropriate medical equipment to protect those caring for the sick and dying.

As such, researchers, scientists, engineers, tech companies and others have answered the call to offer solutions to a supply chain broken by the pandemic. They are developing innovations to help get healthcare personnel and first responders the tools they need to protect themselves and others from the respiratory virus, which has so far claimed hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.

Following are just a few of the creative innovations and initiatives accomplished so far to ensure the health and safety of healthcare professionals on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19.

Ventilators

A Spanish automobile manufacturer is producing medical ventilators amid the global coronavirus pandemic using windshield wiper motors from its assembly line to power the medical devices.

To help alleviate the shortage of critical life-saving ventilators necessary for treating those infected with the virus, SEAT developed a prototype of its OxyGEN ventilator, which is powered by windshield wiper motors from the SEAT production line and generally used in some Volkswagen Group cars.

Composed of roughly 80 electronic and mechanical components, OxyGEN will power the ventilators in much the same way that traditional ventilators do: by pumping oxygen into the patient's lungs while removing carbon dioxide, and keeping positive pressure within the system to prevent their collapse.

More ventilators

Ambu bags, or artificial manual breathing units, typically found in ambulances and emergency rooms are being transformed into automated resuscitators by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

To fill COVID-19-related supply chain ventilator shortages, researchers are turning the emergency devices, which manually pump air into a patient’s lungs, into automated devices using off-the-shelf electronics and a mechanical actuating device to pump air into a patient’s lungs. According to developers, the device functions like mechanical ventilators, assisting patients with breathing but without human intervention.

Hand sanitizers

In response to a hand sanitizer shortage for both healthcare personnel and consumers, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau relaxed mandates surrounding the production of hand sanitizer, eventually allowing distilleries to pivot their production lines from the manufacture of liquor to the manufacture of hand sanitizer. As such, distillers including familiar brands such as Absolut, Jameson’s, Bacardi and Tito’s used their high-proof alcohol leftovers to manufacture the much in demand product.

Social distancing robots

To enable healthcare personnel to treat coronavirus patients from a safe distance without running the risk of infecting themselves, a professor from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, designed a medical robotic arm.

Developed by Tsinghua professor Zheng Gangtie, the robotic arm performs healthcare functions against a backdrop of both medical professional and personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages.

The robotic arm can perform ultrasounds, administer mouth swabs and listen to and monitor patient internal organs, reporting data back to remote medical professionals. Following contact with humans, the robotic arm can even reportedly disinfect itself.

Social distancing devices

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has created a device that enables healthcare personnel to remotely monitor patient breathing, movement and sleep patterns using wireless signals.

The device, called Emerald, analyzes the wireless signals in the environment using AI to monitor vital signs, sleep patterns and movement.

“When doctors have to interact directly with patients to conduct exams or monitor vital signs, each step along the way represents an increased risk that they will get infected,” said Ipsit Vahia, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Given how Emerald can generate important health data without any patient contact, it could minimize the risk that doctors and nurses will catch the disease from their patients.”

Face shields

Noting the worldwide shortage in PPE, including face masks and shields, Danish toymaker Lego turned the assembly line at its Billund, Denmark, facility into a face-shield making factory, producing as many as 13,000 face shields a day. To accomplish this, Lego designers developed new molds for the factory's molding machines in the shape of face shields to be worn by healthcare professionals, protecting them from the potential transmission of the virus.

These are just a few of the creative healthcare innovations achieved during the worldwide pandemic. Check back with Engineering360 for more on these and other developments in COVID-19-related technologies.