Chennai: Anna University develops early Covid-19 alert device

CHENNAI: Researchers from Anna University have developed a Covid-19 early warning system to help those at risk by monitoring their vital parameters such as temperature, oxygen saturation rate, heart rate and respiratory rate. This low-cost wearable health device sends the data to a server for analysis.
The server uses a machine learning algorithm to calculate scores for each user and classify them according to their health conditions.If there are any abnormal variations in these biomarkers, the system generates an alarm so that the user can immediately consult doctors.
“By this approach, we can reduce the number of deaths due to Covid-19,” says K Rathnakannan, an associate professor of the department of electrical and electronics engineering in Anna University. He and his students of embedded systems technology have developed the low-cost smart wearable health device (SWHD).
Based on machine learning algorithms, each of the four measurements will be converted on a scale of 0 to 3 developed by Royal College of Physicians in the UK. “If the cumulative score is above 7, the smart device will recommend a RT-PCR test,” he added.
“In a hospital environment, without compromising social distance, doctors and nurses can monitor the health conditions of the admitted patient from a relatively safe distance,” he said. The team also developed an app for doctors to enable them to monitor up to 20 patients on their phone. “It will reduce the stress level and burden of the doctors and nurses,” he said.
The team is now preparing to test the device at city hospitals.
Anna University vice-chancellor M K Surappa said the device would be useful to the general public as people will be alerted early about any symptoms. “We want to conduct further tests at hospitals to validate the results. It could spur the development of many such devices in future,” he said.