The Boston-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has developed a device that allows physicians to monitor COVID-19 patients' breathing remotely and minimize the risk of transmitting the virus to medical staff.
Emerald, which was developed by MIT professor Dina Katabi and her team, is a wireless device that uses artificial intelligences to determine patients' vital signs, sleep and movements. Hospitals can use the devices in the hospital or send patients home with them.
Data from Emerald is sent directly to physicians. The system shows if patients' breathing has improved or declined and whether sleep patterns have improved.
"When doctors have to interact directly with patients to conduct exams or monitor vital signs, each step along the way represents an increased risk that they will get infected," said Ipsit Vahia, MD, an assistant professor at Boston-based Harvard Medical School who has used the device. "Given how Emerald can generate important health data without any patient contact, it could minimize the risk that doctors and nurses will catch the disease from their patients."