E-Passport COVID-19 Adopting RFID Implants based on Microservices

COVID-19 has spread throughout the global and has restrained humans in all aspects of life including society, economy, education, etc. The first Corona virus appeared in China on 2019 and had mutated into several variants such as B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), E484Q (Delta), and BA.2 (Omicron). In order to block the virus to mutate and spread in the communities, we proposed a design of E-Passport by adopting RFID Implants with integrated Microservices technology. Our concepts is we design an android application (E-passport) that will be used by every institution on public places to stop the positive patients getting inside the public space to spread the virus. The checker in every public places need to scan the RFID implants on every humans hand by using NFC technology embedded on android phone with installed E-Passport to determine whether can enter or forbidden to enter. The RFID Implant stored a unique code that can be read as the reference of the person's data information stored in cloud database based on Microservices infrastructure. Our proposed design and architecture are dedicated to stop the COVID-19 virus to spread among public communities. © 2022 IEEE.

An ultralow power wearable vital sign sensor using an electromagnetically reactive near field.

Despite coronavirus disease 2019, cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of global death, requires timely detection and treatment for a high survival rate, underscoring the 24 h monitoring of vital signs. Therefore, telehealth using wearable devices with vital sign sensors is not only a fundamental response against the pandemic but a solution to provide prompt healthcare for the patients in remote sites. Former technologies which measured a couple of vital signs had features that disturbed practical applications to wearable devices, such as heavy power consumption. Here, we suggest an ultralow power (100 µW) sensor that collects all cardiopulmonary vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, and the respiration signal. The small and lightweight (2 g) sensor designed to be easily embedded in the flexible wristband generates an electromagnetically reactive near field to monitor the contraction and relaxation of the radial artery. The proposed ultralow power sensor measuring noninvasively continuous and accurate cardiopulmonary vital signs at once will be one of the most promising sensors for wearable devices to bring telehealth to our lives.

Chameleon Browser for Public Device Operation

Due to the spread of COVID-19, people are starting to be more aware and careful when touching any devices in public. To reduce physical contact with public devices, we have developed a method that enables users to interact with many kinds of public devices using the browser on their smartphones. This method is called Chameleon because it resembles the ability of the animal chameleon to change its color according to its surrounding environment. We have developed the prototype system to confirm the mechanism of Chameleon. Then, we have applied the Chameleon method to two practical systems in the campus of Nagasaki University that is expected to be used by multiple users. These two systems are a Certificate Issuance System for students and a Digital Signage System, that provides directions to campus visitors. Through these experiences, we confirmed the availability of the Chameleon method as the new type of the browser included not only Web server browsing functions but also public device operation functions. © 2022 IEEE.

NFC tag-based mHealth Patient Healthcare Tracking System

Patient misdiagnosis is quite a common occurrence in hospitals around the world. It is a mistake that can happen to anyone at any time, and especially during a pandemic crisis when hospital facilities are overwhelmed with increasing number of patients. This problem could stem from improper patient identification whereby patient files are mislabelled or placed in an incorrect patient dossier. It is the responsibility of a hospital and its employees to guarantee that such mistakes do not occur. With respect to this, near-field communication (NFC) technology, which is a short ranged wireless communication technology, has been identified to have great potential to help identify patients in hospitals.This paper demonstrates a solution by designing and developing a patient healthcare management information system that sees the seamless integration of the NFC technology along with and both web and mobile technologies,to provide a holistic solution to tackle the problem of patient misidentification in a hospital environment especially during pandemics such as COVID-19.The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as evaluation method in order to quantify the proposed systems's usability and acceptance using 5 constructs. Results showed acceptance of the system with a mean score of 4, indicating that the NFC tag-based mHealth Patient Healthcare Tracking System was found to be useful and easy to use. © 2022 IEEE.

Covid-19 Symptoms Detection System for Campus Access using WSN

The Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of dramatic changes to the international education system. Regardless of the advantages of the online-based education system, the conventional on-campus education system has a lot of benefits that cannot be ignored, especially for lab-based courses. The main goal of this proposed paper is to either mitigate or eliminate the hazards of the Covid-19 virus's spreading between students and staff, so they can attend on-campus events and activities safely. In this paper, we proposed an Arduino-based solution to automate the detection of the Covid-19 symptoms of students and staff within a campus. The proposed solution consists of two separate sub-systems. The first sub-system is the Covid-19 Symptoms Detection System (Covid-19 SDS), which is responsible for detecting Covid-19 symptoms by measuring the temperature and heart rate. The second sub-system is the Campus Authenticator Sign-on System (CASS), which is responsible for checking whether the person is authorized to have access or not to the campus. We used Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Near Field Communication (NFC) for the data exchange between the nodes. The experiments showed an acceptable reading precision with an error margin of around ± 1.35. © 2022 IEEE.

Battery-Less NFC Potentiostat for Electrochemical Point-of-Care Sensors Based on COTS Components.

This work studies the feasibility of using a battery-less Near-Field Communication (NFC) potentiostat for the next generation of electrochemical point-of-care sensors. A design based on an NFC microchip, a microcontroller, and a custom potentiostat based on an operational amplifier is presented. A proof-of-concept prototype has been designed and used to quantify glucose concentration using commercial glucose test strips from chronoamperometry measurements. The device is harvested and the sensor is read using a mobile phone. The prototype uses an antenna loop covered with ferrite sheets to ensure stable operation of the electronics when the mobile phone is used as reader. The use of ferrite reduces the detuning caused by the proximity of the metal parts of the mobile phone. A comparison with a commercial glucometer device is provided. Results obtained using a commercial glucometer and those provided by the proposed potentiostat show an excellent agreement.

NFC-enabled packaging to detect tampering and prevent counterfeiting: Enabling a complete supply chain using blockchain and CPS

Medicines play a vital role in human lives and that’s why the market size of medicines is quite large. Amid the pandemic of COVID-19 in the 21st century, the governments of many countries as well as healthcare industries, hospitals, doctors, and patients are facing a crucial threat of tampering and counterfeiting of vaccines and drugs. This is not an issue that can be ignored easily, as it troubles all of society in a significant way. New technology such as near field communication (NFC), combined with the latest technologies such as Hyperledger, blockchain, and the Internet of Things have given efficient results. The methodology used in this research manuscript (the authors named it “AKSHAT”) is that an NFC chip will be installed in the caps of medicines. When a consumer scans the label on a product with a phone or any NFC-enabled device, the device authenticates the product and informs as to whether it is a genuine product. When a consumer finds that the NFC seal is broken or if it looks intact but NFC data cannot be read, then apparently the product has been tampered with. In NFC, all data and information can be stored and cannot be changed again. The research results presented here establish that NFC is time-efficient, cost-effective, secure, and accurate. With the use of NFC tags, registered transactions on a private network and the tracing of the vaccine are very easy. The authors’ team has demonstrated this as a product that can currently store every transaction as immutable and transparent. The proposed anticounterfeiting solution “AKSHAT” uses NTAG-213 based tags, which are cost-effective as well as have a mutual understanding with all NFC-enabled smartphones. This provides the option for all product manufacturers and brand owners to integrate NFC technology at a fraction of the money. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A 10 GHz metamaterial sensor to detect SARS COV-2 and dust particles in free space

An X-band, free-space microwave sensor consisting of 30 radial spokes connected in a central hub with a gap region was designed, fabricated and tested. The sensor structure results in an electric dipole at 10 GHz with a split circular disc capacitor at the center. Viruses, dust, and soot particles in the gap region change the sensor’s impedance and its reflection coefficient monitored by a horn antenna and a network analyzer. The sensor sensitivity was 85.02 MHz/microliter for deionized water, 89.5 MHz/microliter for uninfected saliva, and 94.6 MHz/microliter for SARS-COV-2 infected saliva with 103 viruses/μL. Its sensitivity to a dielectric sample (ερ~5.84) was 3.23 MHz/mm3, and for iron particles was 16.25 MHz/mm3. All these samples were smaller than λ/30 at 10 GHz and could not be detected on uniform dielectric or metallic substrates without the spoke structure. A 2x2 array of spoke sensors was also constructed and tested as a feasibility study for designing larger metamaterial (MTM) periodic arrays. IEEE

Digital Contact Tracing through the use of NFC on mobile applications as a future viable alternative to QR Code Scanning in the context of Fiji

Coronavirus disease 2019 continues to devastate many countries around the world including Fiji, which relies on digital contact tracing apps such as careFiji to help contain the virus. Certain audits and papers show that Quick Response (QR) codes have low rates of usage which might affect the effectiveness of contact tracing efforts, especially in Fiji. This paper is a limited review of the technologies as well as contact protocols used in contact tracing, the official contact tracing apps used in the south pacific and an overview of the careFiji app. The aim of this is to find out about the contact tracing technologies and protocols to aid in designing a solution to the problems encountered in careFiji as well as other similar contact tracing apps in the South Pacific. The authors propose a NearField Communication (NFC) Contact Tracing Solution Model to supplement the current QR scanning feature of the careFiji app to allow for increased usage of the location-coupled tracking feature of contact tracing efforts. Results of tests conducted prove the convenience and time saving measures of a sample contact tracing app employing NFC versus the careFiji app relying on QR scanning for location-coupled tracking.

High Sensitivity and Label-Free Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 Protein Using a Terahertz Meta-Biosensor

High sensitivity and quantitative detection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein (S protein) is of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of coronaviruses. Here, we utilized terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) integrated with a metamaterial (MM)-based biosensor and biological modification technology to demonstrate a high accuracy and label-free detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein by comparing the changes of the dielectric environment before and after binding the S1 protein. To confirm the sensing characteristics observed in the experiments and provide a further insight into the sensing mechanisms, we performed numerical simulations through varying the thickness, quantity, position, and refractive index of analyte aggregates. The sensitivity increases with the increase of the number of gaps and the amount of analyte near the gaps, which convincingly proves that the frequency shift and sensing performance are strongly influenced by the field enhancement and near-field coupling at the gap area. Copyright © 2022 Niu, Zhang and Yang.

Study of UWB Near Field Microwave Imaging System for the Diagnosis of Lungs Damage Due to Fluid Accumulations

Lung damages, which is the leading cause of cancer and Covid-19 related death worldwide, can be better treated, and patients' chances of survival increased with early detection and diagnosis. PET (positron emission tomography), cone beam CT, Low dose helical CT, are advanced lung imaging techniques that allow for early diagnosis of smaller pulmonary nodules than normal chest radiography, but with ionizing radiation effect and being costly. In the field of imaging technology, microwave imaging has long been researched in the field of breast and brain. This study presents a review, conducts a feasibility study, and validates the concept of imaging the lungs in a similar manner to the breast and brain. The analysis includes designing a 3D human lung model, microwaves' various elements and factors inspection through the human body using holographic near field imaging, and image processing to estimate the percentage of lung damage. The safety and ionization exposure were also taken into consideration during the overall experiment. The use of microwave energy in various lung diseases is examined, and the basis for fluid detection utilizing microwave water content accumulation is also addressed compared to normal tissues. © 2022 IEEE.

Modeling Clothing as a Vector for Transporting Airborne Particles and Pathogens across Indoor Microenvironments.

Evidence suggests that human exposure to airborne particles and associated contaminants, including respiratory pathogens, can persist beyond a single microenvironment. By accumulating such contaminants from air, clothing may function as a transport vector and source of "secondary exposure". To investigate this function, a novel microenvironmental exposure modeling framework (ABICAM) was developed. This framework was applied to a para-occupational exposure scenario involving the deposition of viable SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory particles (0.5-20 µm) from a primary source onto clothing in a nonhealthcare setting and subsequent resuspension and secondary exposure in a car and home. Variability was assessed through Monte Carlo simulations. The total volume of infectious particles on the occupant's clothing immediately after work was 4800 µm3 (5th-95th percentiles: 870-32 000 µm3). This value was 61% (5-95%: 17-300%) of the occupant's primary inhalation exposure in the workplace while unmasked. By arrival at the occupant's home after a car commute, relatively rapid viral inactivation on cotton clothing had reduced the infectious volume on clothing by 80% (5-95%: 26-99%). Secondary inhalation exposure (after work) was low in the absence of close proximity and physical contact with contaminated clothing. In comparison, the average primary inhalation exposure in the workplace was higher by about 2-3 orders of magnitude. It remains theoretically possible that resuspension and physical contact with contaminated clothing can occasionally transmit SARS-CoV-2 between humans.

Chameleon: Contactless Operation Application on Campus

Due to the spread of COVID-19, people are starting to be more aware and careful when touching any devices in the public. In this paper, we proposed a method that could help reduce physical contacts with public devices using smartphone. This method is called Chameleon and we have developed the Chameleon so that it functions as an application that can control any kinds of public devices with minimal modifications.To confirm the effectiveness of the Chameleon, we have applied the method to two different systems in the campus of Nagasaki University that is expected to be used by multiple users. The two systems are a Digital Signage System, a system that provides directions to campus visitors, and a PIN type Smart Lock, a system that acts as a door lock. © 2021 IEEE.

Modeling Subcutaneous Microchip Implant Acceptance in the General Population: A Cross-Sectional Survey about Concerns and Expectations

Despite the numerous advantages of microchip implants, their adoption remains low in the public sector. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to identify concerns and expectations about microchip implants among potential users. A total of 179 United States adults aged 18–83 years responded to two qualitative questions that were then analyzed using the thematic analysis technique. The identified codes were first categorized and then clustered to generate themes for both concerns and expectations. The prevalence of each theme was calculated across various demographic factors. Concerns were related to data protection, health risks, knowledge, negative affect, ease of use, metaphysical dilemmas, monetary issues, and negative social impact. Expectations included medical and non-medical uses, dismissal of microchips, technical advances, human enhancement, regulations, and affordability. The prevalence of concerns and benefits differed by immigration status and medical conditions. Informed by our findings, we present a modification to the Technology Acceptance Model for predicting public’s behavioral intention to use subcutaneous microchips. We discuss the five newly proposed determinants and seven predictor variables of this model by surveying the literature.

JomNFC: Zero Effort Intelligent Access System

Multiple unfortunate accidents in hotels ranging from theft to crimes due to unsupervised access. This paper aims to implement a smart hotel access system based on high-security attributes using the NFC Host-Card Emulation application for authentication in hotels to replace the traditional access ways. Analysis of the technologies and market were made to enlarge the knowledge and benefits of the proposed application. A mixed-mode evaluation was introduced based on surveys and interviews in two different geographical areas. The proposed system is an anti-contagious and contactless technology of smartphone applications for a convenient safe visit. The highest positive responses regarding cost-effectiveness were from Le Quadri hotel oppositely Four Seasons Hotel had larger positive responses in regards the contactless technology. Moreover, both locations had the same average of 95% positive comments given the competency and trust the application provided for eliminating contagiousness of covid-19. © 2021 IEEE.

Biomedical Applications of Terahertz Near-field Imaging

We demonstrate the THz near-field nano-imaging of Bacillus cereus and Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) spike fake virus utilizing THz scattering near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). Here, it shows that bacteria and virus can be distinguished from other substances by THz near-field imaging. And we can use the THz time-domain spectrometer (TDS) scattering near field microscope(s-SNOM) to obtain the spectrum of different substances (bacteria and their substrate), then analyzing the differences between them from their specific responses in THz. This is of great significance to development of the terahertz near-field biology. © 2021 European Union

A Methodology for Remote Microwave Sterilization Applicable to the Coronavirus and Other Pathogens Using Retrodirective Antenna Arrays.

This paper describes an innovative remote surface sterilization approach applicable to the new coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The process is based on the application of a liquid film on the surface or object under sterilization (OUS). A beacon signal is used to self-steer the transmitted power from the designed retrodirective antenna array (RDA) towards the OUS using circularly polarized fields; then, the sterilization is completed by raising and maintaining the required temperature for a certain time. Results suggest that the process takes 5 minutes or less for an angular coverage range over 60 degrees whilst abiding by the relevant safety protocols. This paper also models the power incident onto the OUS, providing consistent results with full-wave simulations. A practical RDA system is developed using a 2 × 1 microstrip patch array operating at 2.5 GHz and tested through the positioning of a representative target surface. Measurements, developed by sampling the power transmitted by the heterodyne RDA, are reported for various distances and angles, operating in the near-field of the system. To further validate the methodology, an additional experiment investigating virus deactivation through microwave heating was also developed. Measurements have been performed with an open cavity microwave oven on the Coronavirus (strain 229E) and egg white protein in a cuvette. This demonstrates that the temperature increases of aqueous films up to 70 [Formula: see text]C by remote microwave-induced heat can denature proteins and deactivate viruses. Possible applications of the method include sterilization of ambulances, medical equipment, and internet of things (IoT) devices.

NFC Payments Security in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic: Review of Recent Security Threats and Protection Methods

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of behavior, often leading to more cautious lifestyles. Financial transactions have not been an exception;as people have reduced cash transactions due to fears of virus transmission. Naturally, this was accompanied by an acceleration of growth of online payment services. Online transactions, Mobile Money, and Near-Field Communication (NFC) contactless payments have all experienced noticeable growth during the pandemic. Consequently, related cyber-risks have simultaneously increased. This paper reviews the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NFC contactless payments internationally and in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Then the paper briefly explains the technological components of NFC payments, comparing NFC card payments and NFC mobile payments. It then reviews three recently identified NFC payments security threats and their respective protection methods. Finally, the paper analyzes the common factors between these threats and provides recommendations related to physical security and user awareness. © 2021 IEEE.

Exploring the Local Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Control via an Exposure-Based Model.

A simulation model was developed aimed at assisting local public health authorities in exploring strategies for the suppression of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. A mechanistic modeling framework is utilized based on the daily airborne exposure of individuals defined in terms of inhaled viruses. Comparison of model outputs and observed data confirms that the model can generate realistic patterns of secondary cases. In the example investigated, the highest risk of being newly infected was among young adults, males, and people living in large households. Among risky occupations are food preparation and serving, personal care and service, sales, and production-related occupations. Results also show a pattern consistent with superspreading with 70% of initial cases who do not transmit at all while 13.4% of primary cases contribute 80% of secondary cases. The impacts of school closure and masking on the synthetic population are very small, but for students, school closure resulted in more time at home and increased secondary cases among them by over 25%. Requiring masks at schools decreased the case count by 80%. We conclude that the simulator can be useful in exploring local intervention scenarios and provides output useful in assessing the confidence that might be placed on its predictions.

Check-In Location System Using NFC Technology

In COVID19 pandemic, new norms have been introduced, including, to leave a record when checking-in to a particular place. This new norm is regulated in order to trace locations that have been visited by someone with positive COVID-19. This paper presents a work on development of check-in location system. The system implemented Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which is mainly utilized two NFC compatible devices where an identification card (IC) is used as a smart object (NFC tag) and the NFC detector as an NFC reader to exchange information. Testing has been conducted in order to observe the system performance, and, the results showed that this system is able to collect information of users who were coming to premise. Also, the information can be checked by authority in order to track someone with positive COVID-19. As conclusion, this system can be an alternative to MySejahtera App. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.