E-Paper
Military’s innovations to help combat Covid-19
Different wings of the defence ministry including the armed forces, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Ordnance Factory Board, have designed and developed a wide range of products to support the country’s effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
From modifying quadcopters to spray disinfectants over large areas to ultra-violet light sanitisers and assisted respiratory systems to 3-D printed masks, the armed forces have come up with a raft of innovations to combat the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), three officers familiar with the details said on Wednesday.
A quadcopter can disinfect an area of the size of a football field in less than five minutes and each unit is likely to cost around Rs 7.5 lakh, said one of the officials cited above.
It can be used up to a surface elevation of 6,000 feet, with an effective spray height of 10 metre. The quadcopters are currently under validation at an army base workshop.
Different wings of the defence ministry including the armed forces, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Ordnance Factory Board, have designed and developed a wide range of products to support the country’s effort to contain the spread of the pandemic.
The UV light sanitiser designed by the army can kill 99.9% surface bacteria and viruses without the use of chemicals, and it would help prevent hospital acquired infections, said the second officer cited above. He said the device, likely to cost Rs 800, had been validated by Military Hospital, Agra.
The Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, has developed an assisted respiratory system (ARS) that is likely to reduce the requirement of invasive ventilation of Covid-19 patients, said the third officer cited above. “This could reduce the requirement of intensive care and loading of the hospitals. The ARS can be used as a personal respiratory aid device,” he added. The unit cost of an ARS unit is expected to be around Rs 7,500.
An army base workshop has developed reusable 3-D printed masks to help tackle the shortage of face masks.
The navy has already developed equipment for safe air evacuation of Covid-19 patients from warships and remote islands. The air evacuation pod (AEP), developed by the Naval Aircraft Yard Kochi under the Southern Naval Command, will allow patient transfer without the risk of pilots or the rescue teams getting infected.
Earlier, the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, designed and developed a hand-held infrared temperature sensor and said it had the capacity to scale up production if agencies require these instruments in large numbers to screen people for fever amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The navy said the instrument had been developed to overcome the scarcity of temperature guns in the market where these were being sold at a very high price.
As the country prepares to handle a rising number of cases and meet its need for ventilators, which about 5% of the Covid-19 patients may require, the navy has also pitched in with an innovative ventilator design that can cater to six patients simultaneously.
