ABSTRACT
New SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type-2) variant termed to be “B.1.1.529” subtype mutation, which is a primary concern, might heavily influence further transmission, virulence and even affect the functioning of test methods and efficacy medications (vaccines). It is still not clear on the timeline for the Omicron (B.1.1.529) subtype to develop protective immunity or even when normal activities will rebound in our everyday lives. Computational analysis on the available big dataset of the Omicron variants’ and their effects on the unvaccinated population indicate that the concerned variant seemed to have a stronger propensity for the vulnerable group (unvaccinated community). In consequence of the terrible COVID-19 epidemic, scientific research on vaccine development and their future enhancement throughout the world have been stepped up significantly. We assessed approved vaccines’ effect on morbidity, hospital stays, and fatalities worldwide. Through available big datasets, an Ensemble learning strategy was used to estimate the likelihood of an unvaccinated person contracting a virus. Overall incidence rates dropped from 18.56 per cent to 2.8 per cent for the vaccinated community during the observation period. People ≥ 60 years had the most remarkable percentage drop (~ 15 per cent). In addition, about 70.4 per cent, immunization through vaccines lowered the number of hospitalizations (both ICU and non-ICUs) and fatalities. Through our research observations, the facts clear that immunization through vaccination has a significant influence on decreasing COVID-19 rapid transmission, even if it provides only a modest level of protection. However, to accomplish this effect, non-pharmaceutical therapies must be maintained indefinitely.
ABSTRACT
The use of healthcare apps, e-health or m-health, has grown exponentially during the pandemic time. These apps can be used by people at home, work or on-the-go, which can help with a range of health, wellness and wellbeing tasks seamlessly, integrated with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of hospital(s) to capture patient information. The data can be accessed by clinicians, patients and attenders anytime and anywhere. One of the major advantages of the healthcare apps has been the reduction of time taken to visit a doctor/clinic/hospital (especially considering the waiting times), medical bills and expenses. To a greater extent, there are many healthcare apps that have improved the accuracy of diagnosis and significantly improved quality of treatment. However, in this paper we have identified 10 challenges and 10 opportunities that can help researchers, developers, policymakers and other stakeholders introspect while building and releasing robust healthcare apps that are very much needed in the post-covid era. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) is a pandemic of unimaginable proportion and magnitude that is posing a great challenge worldwide to the medical industry in the 21st century. It has completely changed the texture of life to a greater extent. The increasing number of victims succumbing to the disease has created an indelible fear in the minds of the people who are afraid to access even the basic healthcare facilities. This paper deals with the Automatic Health Machine (AHM) which uses IoT and Artificial Intelligence technologies to help users access medical facilities during a pandemic and medical emergency mostly in rural and urban areas. The AHM provides complete virtual health checkup, connects with the doctor or specialist online and books appointments for the swab test or ambulance in case of emergency based on the patient's condition, dispenses the swab test or emergency medicines and electronic prescription to patients for later reference. The services of the AHM are accessible to all individuals using 'Smart Health Card'. According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3) proposed by the United Nations, the AHM ensures the wellbeing of all ages in society and increases the survival rate during unprecedented times like a pandemic/epidemic. We collaborated with industries and hospitals to understand healthcare/patients' requirements considering pandemic and post-pandemic. We conducted virtual workshops with the COVID-recovered patients and frontline nurses and doctors. As an overall outcome, the healthcare professionals feel the system can be adopted in an area where medical facility is not available immediately. Thus, our work has led to a patent being published in India and USA. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Air pollution is a menacing issue in this current era. The atmosphere is composed of unwanted, non-efficient respiratory particles that are harmful to humans. The air people breathe is full of harmful contaminated particles resulting in many non-infectious respiratory diseases. The world-threatening COVID-19 pandemic has led the people to care about their personal hygiene and a mask is turning out to be an eminent requirement for every human to prevent the first stage of attack by the deadly coronavirus. Indeed, asthma is turning worse amidst humans, mostly because of these toxic and life-wrenching allergens that coexist in the atmosphere. To realize a knowledge-based sample a design of smart mask is proposed in the paper. © 2020 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over electromagnetic systems using technologies such as radio, wire, etc. Mobile phones are the most popular form of telecommunication. As a result, the usage of smartphones has drastically increased each year. And even during this current pandemic COVID-19, the usage of smartphones and internet has tremendously increased. Some significant applications include banking applications, education sectors (online classes), virtual meetings, e-commerce, travel, recreation etc. As the usage increases, there arises a frequent charge and discharge cycle. Enormous amount of energy is generated every day while carrying our daily activities by means of which, a significant amount of pressure is developed. Using this energy, an efficient model is proposed which uses piezoelectric and thermoelectric sensors to generate energy to suffice the daily needs of a common man. As aligning with the SDG goal number 7 - affordable and clean energy, the proposed idea is a step towards attaining a sustainable future. © 2020 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the modalities of the Smart Automated Health Machine (AHM) using Internet of Things (IoT), a user-friendly health machine with an interactive graphical user interface for medical necessities. It is a virtual health check-up/self-screening/test system, aimed at being the first point of contact for patient screening, to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, oxygen saturation, and visual acuity of patients. In case of emergency, a doctor will be available online through a video call, based on the severity of patients' conditions, a call can be placed by a doctor to book an ambulance van or ambulance bike (based on the conditions). If a patient is unconscious, a direct call can be placed by any bystander or patient's carer to book an ambulance. In non-emergency cases, medical appointments can be booked - the system will also dispense medicines based on the health conditions and/or doctor's electronic prescription which can be selected among the list of available medicines. Each individual will be provided with a "smart health card", which will keep a record of patients' personal details, health conditions, prescriptions, and amount of tablets consumed. The AHM will provide all the necessary information, keep a record of different medical problems in different regions and different necessities required to be adopted. The system can also be called as "Self Healthcare Service (SHS)"or "Self Healthcare Units (SHU)"-the initiatives are part of sustainable development goals (SDG-3) proposed by United Nations.We conducted a pilot evaluation with the patients, nurses and doctors. As an overall outcome, the practitioners feel the system can be adopted in an area where medical facility is not available immediately. Adopting this system in such regions not only help in medical emergencies/epidemic/pandemic such as COVID, it also increases the percentage of survival. The system can also be adopted in hospitals, pharmacies, schools, public places like bus/train stations, airports, markets or any commercial areas, zones prone to accidents in rural and urban areas and other places that can be quite useful and helpful to the public. © 2020 IEEE.