Google has co-developed an Ebola-proof tablet device that can help doctors in the fight against Ebola.
The need for the Ebola-proof device arose to the need to help teams record vital patient informations as oppose doctors shouting patient notes across fences in order to avoid contamination.
It is a modified Sony Xperia tablet, a waterproof device with curvy edges to prevent protective clothing from being pierced. It comes with an extra protective shell that can withstand being soaked in 0.5% chlorine solution which kills Ebola virus. The tablet has resistance to high humidity and storms and must be used by workers wearing protective gloves.
This device can be charged quickly and wirelessly by being placed on a table, the table connects wirelessly to a tiny local network server that is roughly the size of a postage stamp.
The sole aim of this device is to track a patient’s progress which comprises of the patient’s pulse, temperature and other results over time.
According to BBC.com Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Ebola is passed on through contact with body fluids, and even a single piece of paper leaving a high-risk zone poses a risk of passing on the infection. Additionally, health-care workers caring for patients have to wear full protective suits with goggles and multiple layers of gloves, despite soaring temperatures, but dictating notes across a fence at the end of exhausting shifts while wearing masks was a “recipe for error.”
The device is currently being tested at MSF treatment centres in Sierra Leone.
