It’s June and for sensor people that has meant Sensors Expo in San Jose for many years. This year with the coronavirus dictating the terms, Sensors Expo has been postponed until Nov. 16-18 but it still will be held in San Jose, CA. Traditional pre-conference symposia, including Implementing Energy Harvesting and Higher Energy Efficiency Sensor […]
How can kirigami be used for sensing pressure?
If you are like me, you are aware of origami (the Japanese art of paper folding) but need a refresher on kirigami. Unlike origami figures that can only be made by folding, kirigami involves both folding and cutting. Inspired by kirigami, researchers at Texas A&M University developed 3D polymer-based kirigami architectures for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) […]
Can a sensor detect COVID-19 in wastewater?
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) that extracts data from urine and feces transported through sewers has the potential for communities to rapidly screen, quarantine and prevent the spread of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. As a result, many researchers are investigating its effectiveness for COVID-19 testing and to obtain information on health, disease and pathogens as well […]
Can a biosensor detect the COVID-19 virus in the environment?
Building on research for sensors to detect bacteria and viruses in the air, a team from Empa, ETH Zurich and Zurich University Hospital developed a biosensor to detect the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The sensor could be used measure the virus concentration in the air in real time in crowded locations such as train stations or […]
How can you ensure proper air quality levels in buildings?
In the building management industry, landlords and building managers are charged with the safety and comfort of the tenants within their apartment complexes or office space. Safety includes ensuring that proper air quality levels are maintained. One of the ways to do this is by preventing a silent offender of public safety issues, carbon dioxide […]
How can we sense the coronavirus?
Researchers at Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago asked themselves that question. Their answer is a wearable wireless sensor similar to a Band-Aid strip. The device mounts to the throat and detects breathing and coughing and a set of algorithms provide the analysis. Similar to sensors designed to monitor speech and swallowing in […]
How can a carmaker provide more ventilators and/or respirators?
Ventilators and respirators become a critical but limited supply item when a pandemic such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) occurs. Since air pressure and air flow are involved in both, pressure sensors are an integral part of many products. As different aspects of society pull together or respond to the implementation of the Defense Production Act, […]
How can the world solve the global ventilator shortage problem? Pt 5
Ventilator shortages in the US could be on the order of 300,00 to 700, 000 units or more but the estimated supply of existing ventilators in world-wide hospitals was less than 200,000 before the COVID-19 outbreak. A more recent indication is that the US has about 200,000 but still just a fraction of what is […]
How can the world solve the global ventilator shortage problem? Pt 4
Initiated in March 2020, a group of engineers in Spain led by the Barcelona based company Protofy.xyz, developed OxyGEN, an open hardware ventilator design to address the COVID-19 shortage. Working with two hospitals in Barcelona, the design is in its fifth iteration to provide an efficient and safe device. The automated AMBU ventilator design prototype […]
How can the world solve the global ventilator shortage problem? Pt 3
Continued from the university efforts in Pt2, another example of a university-designed automated AMBU bag-based ventilator was demonstrated by Rice University. Working with Metric Technologies, a Canadian global health design firm, Rice University developed an automated AMBU-based ventilation unit that can be built for less than $300 worth of parts and was based on a […]
