GUWAHATI: Know your health status in just 30 seconds!
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in collaboration with Workspace Metal Solutions Pvt Ltd, Udaipur, has developed a first-of-its-kind self-check kiosk, which can accurately determine whether an individual is running a fever, has low blood oxygen levels and, therefore, potentially has COVID-19 or any another viral or bacterial infection.
All of this can be done without any physical contact.
The fully automated kiosk only takes about 30 seconds to check whether the person is safe to enter the premises of an office/institution/organisation or not.
“The self-check kiosk has been developed by Dr. Senthilmurugan Subbiah, associate professor, department of chemical engineering, IIT Guwahati, and Puneet Talesara, founder, Workspace Group, and an alumnus of IIT Guwahati,” a statement issued here on Tuesday, informed.
“It instantly detects and records the syndromes associated with COVID-19 like body temperature and blood oxygen content and raises alarm in case it is beyond the limits,” it said.
The kiosk features a first of its kind UV-C disinfectant box capable of killing viruses/bacteria present on the surfaces of luggage, bags, keys, mobiles, wallet etc. thereby reducing the risk of any spread.
The cost of the kiosk varies from Rs 3.5 lakh to 7.5 lakh depending on the specification and features. The product, which has been designed in accordance with WHO guidelines, has already been commercialised.
The institute has also installed self-check kiosk on its campus as well. The team has also filed for a patent.
With the gradual easing of public lockdown measures and return to normal life, it is the need of the hour to ensure safe entry to any premises.
“The individual before entering a premise will have to stand on the footmarks marked in front of the kiosk; remove face mask and align face in the grid displayed on the screen to measure body temperature,” it said.
Thereafter, the individual will have to wave hand over the sensor of the UV-C chamber to open its door for keeping the belongings inside. The UV-C box will perform 360⁰ disinfection on all the exposed surfaces.
“The individual will have to place index finger on the SpO₂ sensor to check the oxygen saturation in the body. After this, the individual can disinfect hands by placing them below the automatic sanitiser dispenser unit. Post hand sanitisation, the individual can collect the belongings from UV-C chamber and can proceed further,” it added.
Talking about the innovation, Subbiah said, “The kiosk installed at IIT Guwahati campus is IoT (Internet of Things) enabled and its data analysis system is capable of face identification and creating employee/person health historical data.”
“Kiosk’s AI (artificial intelligence)-based software system is capable of monitoring an individual’s health from historical data. In case of abnormal temperature, the kiosk generates the alarm to health department authorities of their company/organisation/institute.”
He further said that the kiosk can provide a community solution to fight against COVID 19 by ensuring surveillance of an individual’s health and disinfection of the items belonging to the individual”.