August 29, 2020

LG Electronices announced a new face mask that includes HEPA-quality air filters that remove small particles in the air. HEPA-quality means that particles as small as 0.3 microns are removed, at a 99.97% rate. The mask includes two fans and two H13-level HEPA filters.

Wearing masks to protect against Covid-19 can be uncomfortable, and the air inside the mask often feels humid and stuffy. The new mask is intended to provide cleaner, fresher air to the wearer.

There are also sensors in the mask, allowing the fans to automatically speed up during inhalation, and slow down during exhalation. The mask was designed to feel comfortable even after hours of wear. The battery in the mask can provide up to eight hours of operation, depending on fan speed.

The mask, under the brand name PuriCare, was revealed at the IFA trade show. Pricing and retail distribution were not announced.

August 13, 2020

Stanford scientists have designed a ventilator that can be built for less than $400, to help hospitals care for seriously ill Covid-19 patients. They have published the design for anyone to use.

Ventilator shortages are a serious threat that can prevent proper medical care for Covid-19 patients. Ventilators are mechanical devices that help patients breathe by pushing air into the patients' lungs.

Many hospitals around the world, especially in developing countries, lack enough ventilators to handle a surge in Covid patients. Dr. Michael Bressack, a pediatrician who was involved in the project, says that the ventilator design should be especially helpful in "mid- and low-income countries, where medical resources are scarce."

Commercial ventilators often cost $20,000 or more.

The scientists are part of physics research facility SLAC, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Their design includes microcomputers running custom-designed software. The design was tested for effectiveness and safety at the VA Palo Alto Health Care center.

May 15, 2020

A cross-disciplinary team of researchers has designed a face mask that lights up when it detects SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Until now, public spaces have struggled to detect which persons trying to enter are infected with the virus. It is common for remote temperature sensors to be used in places from airports to office buildings, in an attempt to screen out the currently infected. But temperature sensors fail to detect people who are infected but asymptomatic, even though they may be spreading the virus.

The team behind the new mask design, which include scientists from Harvard and MIT, previously worked on masks that detect pathogens that cause Ebola and Zika. The Harvard researchers are affiliated with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

They are usings sensors made of freeze-dried genetic material that binds with the virus. The signal of detection can be fed in to a bioluminescent or fluorescent light.

A proof of concept demo is planned in a matter of weeks.

April 30, 2020

A Florida company has a doorway-sized portal that shines far-UV-C light down on people or objects passing through. Far-UVC light kills viruses in its path, but is safe for people.

Different frequencies of UV light are designated with letters: UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. The most common type of UV-C light acts as a disinfectant to viruses and bacteria, but can be harmful to people if it makes contact with skin or eyes.

The Cleanse Portal, made by Healthe, of Cocoa Beach, Florida, is designed to be used at entrances to buildings and other doorways or entrances, in a variety of settings.

April 6, 2020

A championship Formula 1 team in the U.K. has joined in the fight against Covid-19 by building CPAP breating machines that can help some ailing patients avoid the need for a ventilator.

The Mercedes-AMG team is the reigning Formula 1 team, but the season has been put on hold. Now Mercedes-AMG's High Performance Powertrains group has teamed up with University College London to quickly develop a CPAP machine tailored for Covid-19 patients.

CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) devices are typically used by people suffering from sleep apnea; they help smooth continuous breathing during sleep.

Using CPAP machines can help prevent Covid-19 patients from needing admission to intensive care or a ventilator, as shown by results of CPAP use in Italy.

Once the new devices have been tested, the Formula 1 team says it can ramp up production to as much as 1,000 per day.

March 27, 2020

A team of academics in the U.K. has developed a design for a simple ventilator that can be made from available off-the-shelf parts and a small PCB with control logic. Although not as sophisticated as the existing commercial models used in most hospitals, the new design, called OxVent, can be assembled and deployed quickly.

The team of designers looked through low-cost parts that are readily available in the health care supply chain, and came up with a new, simplified design that has many fewer parts than standard commercial ventilators. The control circuitry was designed using Arduino, a widespread and low-cost circuit board.

A mainstream ventilator can cost in the area of $50,000. The OxVent's simplified design means it could be made available for $5,000 or less, if manufactured in bulk.

The design team hopes that regulators will give quick approval to device, to allow quick manufacture, assembly, and delivery to hospitals treating Covid-19.

July 23, 2020

British company Synairgen has produced an inhaled form of a common drug, interferon beta, that greatly reduces the chance that Covid-19 patients become severely ill. The study was small, but did include a control group that received a placebo instead of the drug being tested.

The patients getting interferon were 79% less likely to become severely ill, compared to the Covid patients who received the placebo.

The study was small, however, so a larger follow-up study will be needed to confirm the results. 101 patients particpated in the study.

Interferon is commonly given by injection to treat various infections, such as hepatitis. But injected interferon frequently causes side effects. Synairgen produced the inhaled form in the hope that it could be effective against Covid-19 without as many side effects as the injectable form.

Interferon is a protein that is produced in the body as part of its defense against virus infections. The coronavirus that causes Covid-19, however, is able to block or reduce the body's interferon response. Thus the additional interferon helps the body's protective actions against the virus.

June 30, 2020

Stanford University scientists are starting a trial of an antiviral drug, Favipiravir, as a possible oral treatment for Covid-19 patients. The hope is that the new drug, if given early enough to Covid patients, could reduce the severity of the illness and speed up recovery time.

Other treatments, such as remdesivir, must be administered intravenously, in a hospital-like setting. Favipiravir could be given to patients to take at home.

Favipiravir has already been approved for Covid-19 patients in Russia, China, and India.

Another hope for Favipivir is that it shortens "the duration of viral shedding", according to Marisa Holubar, M.D., one of the scientists conducting the study. That would mean that the drug helps protect the spread of Covid-19, as well as improving outcomes for individuals.

June 16, 2020

Researchers have found that dexamethasone, a common steroid, cuts mortality due to Covid-19 by almost one-third. This breakthrough finding is the first treatment proven to reduce Covid-19 deaths.

The finding comes from the University of Oxford's trials of several drugs to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients. The drug is now set to become "standard of care" treatment for hospitalized patients in the U.K. Use is other countries is expected to follow soon.

Dexamethasone is used for treating rheumatoid arthritis and several other illnesses. It is a widely available generic drug, and is sold at a moderate price. The drug acts as an anti-inflammatory and had previously been tested on SARS patients.

The trial showed the mortality reduction for hospitalized Covid-19 patients that were receiving oxygen or on ventilators. The mortality rate of ventilated patients is reduced from 41% to 25% by using dexamethasone, according to the study.

June 1, 2020

A study of hospitalized Covid-19 patients showed that treatment with the drug tocilizumab reduced the death rate by 45%, compared with a control group. The study, administered by University of Michigan scientists, was announced on a preprint server.

The study involved 154 Covid-19 patients who were hospitalized and using ventilators. Approximately half of them were given tocilizumab, and that group showed a 45% lower death rate than the others.

Tocilizumab acts against IL-6, a molecule used by the body to fight infections. In some cases IL-6 is believed to cause an overreaction by the immune system, sometimes known as a cytokine storm, which can prove fatal. The drug is sold by Genentech, under the brand name Actemra, as an arthritis treatment.

Roche, which owns Genentech, intends to conduct a Phase 3 trial in which tocilizumab will be combined with remdesivir, which has already been approved to treat Covid-19. Roche will partner with Gilead, Remdesivir's maker, on the trial.

May 24, 2020

The New England Journal of Medicine published the full results of the study showing remdesivir's benefit for hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Gilead, the maker of remdesivir, previously announced the main conclusions of the study, but the details of the study, and related data, had not been available before now.

The study involved 1,063 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, each of whom was randomly given either remdesivir or a placebo. Their conditions were monitored by doctors who didn't know which patients received the real remdesivir.

The median recovery time for the patients receiving remdesivir was 11 days, four days shorter than the median time for the patients receiving the placebo. The benefits applied to all classes of patients, regardless of age, gender or seriousness of the illness.

The study was halted as soon as it became clear that remdesivir was producing benefits. This allowed a quicker approval by the FDA so that the drug can be given more widely to seriously ill Covid-19 patients.