Nagpur: After mobile apps to track and monitor coronavirus patients, here is a smart wristband to do the job. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Nagpur in collaboration with IIT Jodhpur and Nagpur has designed and developed a model for effective tracking and monitoring of COVID positive and suspect patients, reported Hindustan Times (HT).
The existing app:
The app: Depends on the continuous use of mobile phones by the quarantined person and the Internet; they use GPS or cell tower triangulation methods for tracking location with an accuracy that may vary sometimes up to a radius of 1.5 to 2 kilometres; apart from tracking the quarantined person’s movement, it is also essential to monitor their symptom which in the existing apps relies only on the user’s subjective self-assessment.
The wristband’s features:
“The novel device can provide mobile free operation, using a geofencing technology which will provide a real-time alert on any breach in the quarantine zone,” Dr Prathamesh Kamble, Assistant Professor, Physiology, AIIMS Nagpur was quoted as saying by HT.
- The wristband will provide real-time, objective, and reliable data of vitals of the wearer like the temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation, so that the quarantined person will get a health alarm thus helping them seek early medical help.
- This data will be collected and archived on cloud facilitating monitoring by health workers from a distance.
The technology is developed by Dr Mayur Parate and Dr Ankit Bhurane, city-based professionals from IIIT Nagpur. The wristband will operate on a technology that is more effective than the GPS system, said Dr Mayur, added the HT report.
