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AIST:Research Highlights, Developing an Infection-Controlled X-Ray Care Unit for Initial Diagnosis of COVID-19 Patients Outside of Hospitals

Department of Life Science and Biotechnology

Department of Energy and Environment

Department of Information Technology and Human Factors

Developing an Infection-Controlled X-Ray Care Unit for Initial Diagnosis of COVID-19 Patients Outside of Hospitals

MISAWA Masaki, WASHIO Toshikatsu, NITTA Naotaka
Health and Medical Research Institute
TAKADA Naoki
Research Institute for Energy Conservation
OYAMA Eimei, KAMIMURA Akiya
Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems Research Center

Date of presentation/publication: June 17, 2021

Developing an Infection-Controlled X-ray Care Unit (ICXCU) for diagnosing COVID-19 patients outside of hospitals

We developed a vehicle equipped with ventilation to protect medical staff from infection from COVID-19 patients, together with telemedicine systems for online practice and chest X-ray radiography diagnosis.

Diagnostic functions and on-board medical devices in ICXCU

Initial diagnosis of COVID-19 patients needs to be conducted outside of hospitals

In Ibaraki Prefecture, a chest X-ray is highly recommended in initial diagnosis of COVID-19 patients. However, during the diagnosis, a risk of secondary infection increases, and disinfection of medical devices touched by the patients requires extra precaution and laborious disinfection cleaning. In current practice, chest X-ray devices are brought out of the hospitals and radiographs are taken in outdoor tents maintained at negative pressure. However, the tents are stationary and easily influenced by outside temperature and weather conditions. Besides, radiation scattering should be taken into account for surrounding people without shielding. To solve these problems, we designed a mobile clinic equipped with a telemedicine function and with infection-preventative measures, allowing for initial diagnosis safely and effectively.

We developed ICXCU with a telemedicine function and measures to prevent infection on medical staff in the car.

The vehicle is equipped with a chest X-ray device and a ventilation function to prevent secondary infection, a telemedicine system that allows online medical practice, and medical equipment necessary for initial medical treatment. The ventilation system is optimized by analyzing the airflow and distribution of aerosols discharged from the patient, and necessary measures are taken to disinfect the interior of the vehicle with an ozone generation and UV irradiation. As a result, medical checks for COVID-19 patients can be carried out quickly and safely outside the hospitals while preventing secondary infection of medical staff.

We plan to verify ICXCU’s capability through telemedicine demonstrations within a regional healthcare system.

Based on the requests of local government and health centers, we plan to conduct simulated diagnosis of COVID-19 patients at outbreaking facilities and recovery accommodation facilities. Also, we consider that the exact same functions can be used in rural area where the medical resources are limited or in disastrous situations where medical care system is demised by floods or earthquakes.

Contact for inquiries related to this theme

Artificial Organ Research Group, Health and Medical Research Institute

MISAWA Masaki, Senior Researcher

AIST Tsukuba East, 1-2-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8564 Japan

E-mail: M-hmri-ic-ml*aist.go.jp (Please convert "*" to "@".)

Web: https://unit.aist.go.jp/hmri/en/

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