Professor Sui Huang, MD, PhD, is a molecular biologist and faculty member at Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle.

“Masks are very important and effective. Even if you act out of fear and out of a sense to protect yourself, you actually also protect others. It’s a bidirectional protection.”

SEATTLE (PRWEB)
April 01, 2020

A growing number of experts say it is time to rethink official recommendations in the U.S. and other western countries to avoid wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Sui Huang, MD, PhD, is a molecular biologist and professor at Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle. Dr. Huang has been a powerful voice in a growing chorus contending that masks are an effective tool to stop the spread of COVID-19. Huang calls guidelines from the CDC and other public health agencies “unfortunate,” as they sweep aside a potentially powerful measure that could help “flatten the curve.”

Dr. Huang wrote a March 26 article (COVID-19: Why We Should All Wear Masks — There Is New Scientific Rationale) that has been viewed more than 1.5 million times on Medium, and he has since discussed that rationale in a video Q&A.

“Masks are very important and effective,” Huang said. “Even if you act out of fear and out of a sense to protect yourself, you actually also protect others. It’s a bidirectional protection. We have a public incentive constellation that the CDC has missed.” 

Huang also cites data published this week in the journal Nature that shows the nose and throat is where the virus lands, where the body’s receptors for virus docking are, and where the virus replicates. This important discovery by a German group suggests that transmission occurs mostly via large droplets and less via those fine aerosols that can end up deep in the lung. Thus, even a surgery mask or do-it-yourself (DIY) cloth mask will act as an effective barrier, and higher-grade N95 masks aren’t needed to block the large spray droplets that come from the nasopharynx. (N95 masks filter out 95 percent of small airborne particles. They are necessary to block these tiny aerosolized droplets that reach the lower lungs, but are overkill for the larger droplets that originate from and land in the upper respiratory system.) 

If the “respiratory etiquette” of sneezing into your elbow is protective, then masks should be protective, Huang said. “Any physical barrier should be helpful,” he said. “When empirical evidence is lacking, we should trust measures based on common sense, plausible mechanisms — especially when costs are minimal.”

Huang’s current research seeks to integrate big data with complex systems theory to better understand diseases. Systems biology integrates many disciplines — from the molecular to the clinical level — and offers perspectives often missed in most media interviews with epidemiologists and clinicians.

About ISB

Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) is a collaborative and cross-disciplinary non-profit biomedical research organization based in Seattle. We focus on some of the most pressing issues in human health, including brain health, cancer, sepsis and aging, as well as many chronic and infectious diseases. Our science is translational, and we champion sound scientific research that results in real-world clinical impacts. ISB is an affiliate of Providence St. Joseph Health, one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the United States.

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WPI’s Greg Fischer spearheading an effort to develop and share designs for creating ventilators.

“A lot of people are trying to contribute, and this is an area where we can make an impact.”- Gregory Fischer

WORCESTER, Mass. (PRWEB)
April 01, 2020

A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is creating designs to turn inexpensive and readily available manual, hand-held, bag valve mask (BVM) resuscitators into automated ventilators that could be used to fill the deep gap between the number of life-saving ventilators available and the much larger number that will be needed when COVID-19 is expected to peak.

The WPI researchers are going to make designs of multiple devices and their components publicly available so anyone with a 3D printer and a background in electronics and mechanical engineering could use them to produce ventilators for their local hospitals. A manufacturing company also could use the designs to produce ventilators quickly and at scale.

“I just wanted to do something to help,” said Gregory Fischer, professor of robotics engineering and mechanical engineering, and director of the PracticePoint Medical Cyber-Physcial Systems R&D Center, who spearheaded the idea. “A lot of people are trying to contribute, and this is an area where we can make an impact. We’re taking things that are used every day in emergency medicine and finding a way to turn them into safe, reliable, and readily replicable ventilators that can save patients’ lives. And we’re sharing those designs with the world.”

After getting advice about what hospitals need from clinicians, Fischer, who had worked as an EMT in his hometown, began putting the plan together to coordinate different groups of WPI researchers to begin creating their own designs. The expectation is to post multiple designs—some for individual components of the system (including valve and sensor modules), one for a simple and readily replicable actuated ventilator, and one for a more automated and complex system. That way people or companies looking to create a system can either use a full design or use a design for a component that they’ve been missing or having trouble creating.

The ventilators built from these designs are not meant to replicate the full-feature functionality of a commercial system; they are meant to be used for more stable patients so the commercial ventilators with more advanced sensing and control can be saved for critical patients.

As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly spreads around the world, the United States has become a hotspot. The virus, which is more lethal than the seasonal flu, attacks people’s lungs, in some cases compromising their ability to breathe and leading to pneumonia. COVID-19 patients are dying because they can’t get enough oxygen to their bloodstream, causing organ failure.

According to the American Hospital Association, 96 million Americans are expected to test positive for COVID-19, with 4.8 million requiring hospitalization and 960,000 needing a ventilator, which pumps air into the patients’ lungs through a tube that has been inserted into their windpipes. While those needing ventilators won’t all be ill at the same time, the U.S. only has about 200,000 ventilators, reports the Society of Critical Care Medicine. And the ventilators available aren’t always where they are most needed.

Fischer and the WPI research team want to help close that gap between the number who will need ventilators and the number of machines actually available.

The team, which worked remotely to develop their designs, includes Marko Popovic, assistant research professor in physics and robotics engineering; Cagdas Onal, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Dirk Albrecht, associate professor of biomedical engineering; Chris Nycz, a research scientist working with WPI’s PracticePoint;Paulo Carvalho, a robotics engineering doctoral candidate, and Hamilton White, a PhD student in biomedical engineering.

A commercial ventilator costs anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000. A complete ventilator converted from a manual resuscitator with the WPI designs is expected to cost less than $500 and be made with readily available components.

“I like the idea of taking these cheap, readily available manual devices and converting them into something that can be run autonomously,” said Fischer, who is leading a research project funded by the National Science Foundation to accelerate international collaboration and open-source hardware, software, and testing for surgical robots. “Normally an EMT would be squeezing the bag to keep the flow of air going. We can automate that squeezing, and we’re adding pressure and CO2 sensors so it can maintain minimum and maximum pressures, and ensure appropriate air exchange. It will provide a consistent respiratory cycle.”

Popovic is working on a design for an oxygen concentrator, which is a device that removes nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched gas stream to a patient. The concentrator can be used on its own or can be part of the overall ventilator design. COVID-19 patients need a higher level of oxygen because of their diminished lung capacity.

Popovic also is laying out a design to 3D print valves for the concentrator. Normally, each valve would cost about $100 but by 3D printing them, the cost drops to between $10 to $15 a piece. The valve, which was recently invented in his lab, is lighter, more compact, more controllable, and less expensive than traditional valves.

“This is what we do at WPI,” said Popovic. “Given the current situation with COVID-19, the need for oxygen concentrators and ventilators is growing exponentially. This is a very unusual situation for our health care system. We can help, so we’re helping.”

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

WPI, the global leader in project-based learning, is a distinctive, top-tier technological university founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems. Recognized by the National Academy of Engineering with the 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, WPI’s pioneering project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. WPI offers more than 50 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 14 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. Its faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research to meet ongoing challenges in health and biotechnology; robotics and the internet of things; advanced materials and manufacturing; cyber, data, and security systems; learning science; and more. http://www.wpi.edu

About PracticePoint

Housed at WPI’s Gateway Park campus, PracticePoint is an applied research and education center designed to accelerate development and translation of cyberphysical system (CPS)-enhanced technology and to develop the talent pool and accompanying ecosystem that can help Massachusetts companies attain market dominance in the state’s medical device industry cluster. PracticePoint was launched in 2017 with a $5 million matching grant from the Massachusetts Baker-Polito Administration and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC).

Contact:

Colleen B. Wamback

Associate Director, Public Relations

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, Massachusetts

508-688-4858 (Cell)

cbwamback@wpi.edu

ACLS Desktop Simulation

Our ACLS simulation provides a deliberate practice environment for surge providers to prepare themselves for acute care—providing the real-to-life reference experience needed to handle inpatient emergencies while on the frontlines of this pandemic,” says Dr. Brian Gillett, President and Chief Medica

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (PRWEB)
April 01, 2020

Health Scholars, the creator of the first ever virtual reality (VR) Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training announces a $1M in grant funding for surge provider training to help combat COVID-19.

The grant will provide approximately14,000 providers ACLS Desktop Simulation Training to assist health systems with preparedness training. It will enable hospitals to quickly deploy training to surge providers needing to acquire or re-acquire clinical skills related to emergency situations—such as dysrhythmia or a code event.

“Our ACLS simulation provides a deliberate practice environment for surge providers to prepare themselves for acute care—providing the real-to-life reference experience needed to handle inpatient emergencies while on the frontlines of this pandemic,” says Dr. Brian Gillett, President and Chief Medical Officer of Health Scholars.

As hospitals continue to ramp up with the assistance of additional providers to handle the patient surge due to COVID-19, this will entail preparing outpatient providers to perform acute care for inpatients or cross-training providers from other areas of the hospital.

“Surge providers may need to assist with the care of critical patients in the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit or General Med-Surge floors, bringing along a challenge of needing to have large numbers of providers quickly acquiring or re-acquiring key clinical skills related to acute care, like ACLS.” Gillett continued.

Health Scholars is currently offering two programs as part of the grant; a matching program for state hospital associations who purchase training at a state level, or individual hospitals or hospital systems that have financial and clinical need can apply to receive ACLS Desktop Simulation Training

The desktop application is available for purchase now for those looking for a faster way to address emergency preparedness training.

The ACLS Desktop Simulation Training provides a deliberate practice environment for providers to prepare themselves for acute care—which is best achieved through a real-to-life reference experience. The application is an entirely voice-driven, screen-based simulation that trains providers to respond to all 13 core American Heart Association (AHA) rhythms in stable, unstable and cardiac arrest scenarios. The simulation also trains providers on a traditional ACLS Mega Code and refreshes post-arrest care after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is achieved.

Unique to ACLS Simulation is the use of 100% natural language processing. The provider uses voice direction to communicate all of the actions needed to run a resuscitation team, which provides the most immersive, effective and scalable approach to ACLS skills practice available today. The training takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete, provides a detailed debrief and readiness assessment, and is repeatable on an unlimited basis. And it is immediately available for use.

For more information please visit https://bit.ly/3anI0bP.

About Health Scholars

Our mission is to advance healthcare education through virtualization, making experience-based training scalable, accessible and affordable to both Healthcare and Public Safety providers. Health Scholars is a cloud-based, VR-ready clinical training platform with VR Simulations, Simulation Management, and Clinical Readiness Reporting solutions for the management, delivery and analysis of clinical training. Our VR simulations extend physical simulation beyond the simulation center, enabling repeatable practice of proper workflows as well as critical soft skills like communications, situational awareness and critical thinking.

For more information, see http://www.HealthScholars.com. You may also contact Chris Ingwalson at (303) 915.0087, or by email at Chris.Ingwalson@HealthScholars.com

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