Kerala scientists invent disinfected barrier-examination booth to check COVID-19 patients

Scientists at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) have invented a disinfected barrier-examination booth for testing COVID-19 patients. It is an independent institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. According to a statement from the science ministry, the innovative disinfected examination booth is closed like a telephone booth for testing the patient without direct contact with the doctor to evade the transmission of infection. It is paired with a table fan, rack, lamp, and Ultraviolet (UV) light. After each patient leaves, the installed UV light in the booth disinfects the chamber.

According to an official statement, this efficiently eliminates most of the viral load within 3 minutes of exposure. A pair of gloves offered in the examination booth permits the patient's physical examination. Apart from this, an entry tunnel on the side frame is offered to pass a Stethoscope within the chamber. This would assist the doctor to put stethoscope on the patient and listen to heart and breath sounds. After the examination, the patient is entreated to vacate the chamber, and UV light will be turned on for 3 minutes. When UV exposure in the chamber is completed, the next patient is examined, and the order is repeated. 

According to Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary of DST, while interacting with the carriers of a highly contagious virus, providing the highest standards of safety to the doctors and the front-line medical workers was a critical priority. The team of innovators from SCTIMST consists of Ramesh Babu V, DS Nagesh, Dr Saurabh S. Nair, Muraleedharan C. V, Dr Arvind Kumar Prajapati, Dr Sivakumar KGV, and the team of Artificial Internal Organ (AIO) & Division Of Extra Corporeal Devices (ECD), SCTIMST.

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