'Ebola-proof' tablet device developed
A tablet device that can withstand being doused in chlorine has been developed to help doctors caring for patients with Ebola.
Designed by technology volunteers and Google, it can be used even wearing gloves and in storms and high humidity.
Medecins Sans Frontieres put out a call for an Ebola-proof tablet to help teams record vital patient information.
At the height of the current outbreak, medics were shouting patient notes across fences to avoid contamination.
Ebola is passed on through close contact with infected bodily fluids.
Even a single piece of paper leaving a high-risk zone poses a risk of passing on the infection, the charity says.
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And medics caring for these patients have to be encased in full protective suits with goggles and multiple layers of gloves, despite the soaring temperatures.
But dictating notes across a fence at the end of exhausting shifts while wearing masks was a "recipe for error", MSF said.
To overcome these challenges the group of international tech volunteers came together, including Pim de Witte of Whitespell and Daniel Cunningham at Hack4Good. They were later joined by Google.
The charity hopes the technology - which is open-source - will be adapted for use in other difficult scenarios such as outbreaks of cholera.
Dr Eric Perakslis, from Harvard Medical School, works on separate global health innovation projects. He said: "A handful of companies are trying to find a technological solutions for the Ebola crisis.
"But they face a lot of challenges such as unreliable electricity. This one addresses all the challenges at once.
"And it will not just be useful for single patient encounters but for research on the virus too."
Ganesh Shankar, product manager at Google, said: "I think this kind of partnership represents the future of how non-governmental organisations are going to integrate technology into the work they do."
And medics caring for these patients have to be encased in full protective suits with goggles and multiple layers of gloves, despite the soaring temperatures.
But dictating notes across a fence at the end of exhausting shifts while wearing masks was a "recipe for error", MSF said.
To overcome these challenges the group of international tech volunteers came together, including Pim de Witte of Whitespell and Daniel Cunningham at Hack4Good. They were later joined by Google.
The charity hopes the technology - which is open-source - will be adapted for use in other difficult scenarios such as outbreaks of cholera.
Dr Eric Perakslis, from Harvard Medical School, works on separate global health innovation projects. He said: "A handful of companies are trying to find a technological solutions for the Ebola crisis.
"But they face a lot of challenges such as unreliable electricity. This one addresses all the challenges at once.
"And it will not just be useful for single patient encounters but for research on the virus too."
Ganesh Shankar, product manager at Google, said: "I think this kind of partnership represents the future of how non-governmental organisations are going to integrate technology into the work they do."
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