HSE Alumnus Develops ‘Smart Glasses’ for Doctors Treating COVID-19 Patients
In late March at the Kommunarka COVID-19 Hospital outside of Moscow, a pilot project was launched that allows healthcare professionals to coordinate their efforts remotely while working with coronavirus patients. The system, which is run using ‘smart glasses’, is now in operation at ten Moscow hospitals. Ilya Flaks, a graduate of HSE’s Master’s Programme in E-Business and project founder, spoke with the HSE News Service about how the smart glasses help doctors and what prospects lie ahead for using virtual reality (VR) in health care.
A High-Tech Solution for Healthcare Professionals
The LANIT Group has vast experience in healthcare. For many years, LANIT has participated in the development of EMIAS (a unified medical information analysis system), but they did not have any experience with creating a system like the one that is being used today to decrease the risk of medical professionals becoming infected with the coronavirus. Before the pandemic, we participated in developing several similar solutions for other areas (manufacturing), but this spring, we offered our technologies for use in clinics that treat COVID-19 patients.
Our system is based on ergonomic smart glasses that are equipped with a camera and a compact screen. They connect to other gadgets in a joint information environment. A medical professional can wear these glasses and perform a live broadcast of sound and video from an isolation ward to the ‘clean zone’. Doctors from the ‘clean zone’ can provide their recommendations and transmit the necessary documents, such as the patient’s medical record or photos. This helps decrease the number of direct contact between healthcare professionals and the patient. The system decreases the risk of infection for doctors, cuts the time spent by professionals on using personal protection equipment, and helps them attend to more patients.
The world will never be the same, and, of course, telemedicine is here stay. Doctors will use modern technology all the more
The doctors will also be able to use the system to hold telemedicine multidisciplinary team meetings, to perform professional education, and contact other doctors for consultations.
Putting the Glasses to Work in Moscow Clinics
We have started work at Moscow City Hospital No. 40 in Kommunarka (an infectious disease hospital designated to treat COVID-19 patients), and since then, have launched our system in ten Moscow clinics. Today, all these clinics use our system daily. We are in direct contact with emergency doctors working in ‘dirty zones’ and other professionals: we are collecting their feedback in order to launch an updated version in several months, which will be more tailored to the doctors’ requirements and the specifics of their work.
Of course, we would like to cover all Moscow hospitals that are dealing with COVID-19 patients. In addition, other regions have also expressed interest in our system.
A Unique Project
I have not heard of anyone who used similar solutions during the peak of a pandemic, which would allow doctors in the ‘red zone’, where they need special personal protection equipment, to communicate with their colleagues in the ‘clean zone’. At the time, we are putting all our efforts into helping the Russian healthcare system. But if medical professionals in other countries hear about what we are doing and start using similar solutions, we would only be happy, because this may help save lives.
The Future of VR Technology in Medicine
I believe that these technologies have a huge potential: in the future, they could dramatically change communication both among medical professionals, and between doctors and patients. I can say that a trend that had previously only been in the making is now swiftly developing in a huge field today. The use of this solution is also relevant in related fields: for example, Emercom could contact a specific doctor right from the field, show them a patient in severe condition, get a quick consultation, and, we believe, save a human life.
See also:
HSE Biologists Explain Mechanism behind Coronavirus Evolution
A team of researchers, including scientists of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, have analysed the evolutionary path of the coronavirus from the Wuhan variant to Omicron. Their findings indicate that many genomic mutations in SARS-CoV-2 are shaped by processes occurring in the intestines and lungs, where the virus acquires the ability to evade the inhibitory effects of microRNA molecules. The study findings have been published in the Journal of Medical Virology.
Russian Researchers Explain Origins of Dangerous Coronavirus Variants
HSE researchers, in collaboration with their colleagues from Skoltech and the Central Research Institute for Epidemiology, have uncovered the mechanisms behind the emergence of new and dangerous coronavirus variants, such as Alpha, Delta, Omicron, and others. They have discovered that the likelihood of a substitution occurring at a specific site of the SARS-CoV-2 genome is dependent on concordant substitutions occurring at other sites. This explains why new and more contagious variants of the virus can emerge unexpectedly and differ significantly from those that were previously circulating. The study’s findings have been published in eLife.
HSE Biologists Prepare Strategy for Universal COVID Test
Russian researchers have developed a strategy to create a cheap and rapid COVID-19 test based on isothermal amplification. According to their publication in Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology, use of this strategy will make it possible to create universal test systems for any of the COVID-19 variants.
People’s Values Affect Their Attitudes to COVID-19 Restrictions
HSE social and political analysts have established which value models and circumstances promote support for restrictive government policies aimed at combatting the coronavirus pandemic. The research is published in Plos One.
Model of Predator-Prey Relationship Helps Predict Spread of COVID-19
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have proposed a mathematical model that describes the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the restrictions applied in different countries. The model will help governments make reasonable and timely decisions on introducing or lifting restrictions. The paper was published in Eurasian Economic Review.
HSE University Classes to Be Held On Site for All Students
Classes in the new academic year will take place on site for students of all HSE University campuses. Existing COVID safety precautions will remain in effect.
Russian Scientists Investigate the Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Variants
HSE University researchers assessed the effectiveness of the T-cell immune response to 11 variants of SARS-CoV-2. Their findings have been published in Nucleic Acids Research.
First-year Students Will Be Able to Get COVID Shots at HSE University
The new regulations ‘On the Organization of Studies for the 2021/2022 Academic Year’ feature in detail what will change for first-year students in the new academic year. HSE University will be organizing a vaccination drive in September for students aged 18 and over who are unvaccinated. Younger students will be eligible for vaccination once they turn 18.
New Safety Measures to Be Introduced at HSE University
Starting September 1, 2021, HSE University-Moscow is introducing new safety policies on campus to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They apply to students over 18 years old who have not had COVID during the last six months, have not been vaccinated (with a Russian or a foreign vaccine), nor have a medical exemption from vaccination. Free vaccination will be available on campus to all arriving students.
HSE University Creates the Viral Genealogy Simulator to Model the Spread of COVID-19
Researchers of HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM), in cooperation with their colleagues from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), and The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), have developed software to model the spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This is the world’s fastest Viral Genealogy Simulator (VGsim). For more details about this scalable simulator, read the reprint on medRxiv. The code is freely available at GitHub.