2020- The Era of Inventions

Editorial

The year of 2020 is even now no less than a rollercoaster, it has been filled with fear, adventure and a wait to be over. The new corona virus COVID 19 has brought about a revolutionary change in the field of medicine and to be more specific in the field of research. The research has never been pushed to this extent in the past times. COVID 19 has not only shocked the entire world but also has exposed its unpreparedness towards any pandemic. There are some innovations which took place around the world and got the eyes of many as they proved to be life-saving or life-easing to not only common people but also the first line workers like doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. One of the examples for this is the COVID BOX PROJECT which took place in Toronto. Their product helps with the intubation process, which is quite invasive. By placing a small, clear polycarbonate box over the patient’s mouth, the box serves as an extra layer of protection, preventing the spread of the virus from an infected patient to the doctors and nurses attempting to help keep the patient’s airway open. This invention is believed to be lifesaving and along with its advancements which shall make the system completely digitalized. Another breakthrough invention which took place was in Africa, where a student from Jamaica University of Technology invented XEROMOSOL. This device is a simple and easy to use instrument used to kill the bacteria on the doorknobs. The XEROMOSOL was invented before the COVID 19 outbreak but it became more useful during the coronavirus outbreak. Another outbreak which took place was in the Moroccan School of Engineering Sciences, have made medical inventions which grabbed in a lot of public interest. This innovation an app-based system that delivers nasal swab test kits via drone to patients with COVID-19 symptoms. This allows healthcare professionals to remotely test for the virus without putting themselves at risk. Some more innovations include the Digital Medical Respiratory System, which delivers information about the patient’s respiratory system to doctors. Doctors can then remotely adjust pressure and respiratory flow and be alerted in critical situations.

The next invention digitalizes medical prescriptions. Called the Moroccan Electronic Perspective, doctors can use an app to send prescriptions directly to a pharmacy. To receive their medicine, all patients have to do is identify their pharmacy with a QR code.

Some more inventions that were a part of the COVID era were the Seattle based company, Slightly Robot, owned by two brothers and a friend, and launched a wearable device in a wristband. The gadget was made to keep people away from frequent skin-picking and nail-biting. This was based on the WHO guidelines which clearly mentioned to prevent the touching of face in order to prevent the spread of the virus. The next innovation is in the field of education, where various online platforms like Udemy, Coursera as well as we here at Parul university, have made tremendous efforts to let knowledge lead to every doorstep even during the difficult times of lockdown.

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Colour Changing Masks

Some innovations also took place in India which brought about a revolution in these difficult times. Some of them include a contactless sanitizer disposer, by DRDO and others are the Color changing masks which were called BAN

CORONA made in the small city of Vadodara. So to conclude with this era filled with fear and anxiety made a little positive change in the field of research along with encouraging researchers throughout the world to try and make this world a better place to live in.

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Contactless Sanitizer