Reports

The idea of using 3D printers for the production of protective equipment at the Faculty of Transportation Technology of the Czech Technical University was born on 30 March and within one week, the faculty tuned both production and distribution. Protective shields and respirators with a replaceable filter are created in the faculty laboratories.

Nikola Mikulecká from Atelier Jaroš - Bednář won the Product & Industrial Design category with her Draft Stand and beer coasters made of porcelain. Kristián Rudenko from Atelier Fišer - Nezpěváková took the third place in the same category with Circle of Life - a bowl for life. More than 500 entries were submitted for the 11th International Design Competition for Young Designers under 30 years of age. Impossible to award the winners at the gala evening of the Zlin Design Week, the organizers announced the results already on 31 March during the Radio Wave broadcast.

The Na Bulovce laboratory assistants will be assisted by a robotic helper with fine and accurate pipetting to test samples of people suspected of having COVID-19. Researchers of the Czech Institute of Computer Science, Robotics and Cybernetics of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CIIRC CTU) and the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic After the on-site testing, the machine is switched on for live operation. It should relieve exhausted laboratory technicians on heavy-duty work in an infectious environment performing tests on COVID-19.

Laboratories of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague (FNSPE) were transformed into a manufactory in March. Due to the general lack of disinfectants on the market, the Department of Nuclear Chemistry (KJCH) started to produce its own disinfectants for the needs of the university and other institutions.

During the current crisis situation, when hospitals are preparing for increased intake of patients infected with coronavirus, the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering has offered to lend state-of-the-art faculty equipment to the Regional Hospital in Kladno to assist in the fight against coronavirus.

Testing is well underway for the new purely Czech protective mask against coronavirus, developed within one week by the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CIIRC ČVUT) under the designation CIIRC RP95-3D. This personal protective equipment with a replaceable filter meeting the highest level of protection has undergone further testing in the National Reference Laboratory of the National Institute of Public Health. The permanence of already certified properties after professional sterilization were verified this time. All procedures are consulted with leading experts thanks to the active involvement of the Czech Society of Cardiology.

The lung ventilator for patients with severe COVID-19 disease was developed by experts from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, in cooperation with experts from the University Hospital Hradec Králové, Thomayer Hospital in Prague, Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem and the State Institute for Drug Control. Now they are fine-tuning the preparations and, in cooperation with companies, will start the production of the first hundred pieces. The ventilators would help in case of an increase in patients in serious condition.

A team of scientists and students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, together with volunteers from around the world, are fighting the new coronavirus infection by launching the FreMEn contra COVID project, which aims to develop a unique application. It will recommend users the optimal route and schedule for visiting places based on concentration data. Technology, which has a fundamental potential to help also Czech citizens abroad, is based on community-based anonymous data collection - that's why scientists are now calling for as many people as possible to join.

The first fifteen pieces of the “CIIRC RP95-3D” respirator protector were handed over to the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic by the Czech Institute of Computer Science, Robotics and Cybernetics, part of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CIIRC CTU). During the weekend, the medical staff of Prague's Na Homolce Hospital tested them directly at work. The Facial mask production on special 3D printers can begin. Today, Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on this occasion. The goal is to get as many pieces as possible to hospitals as soon as possible. The process is coordinated in cooperation with the CzechInvest government agency, which, among other things, helped significantly speed up the certification process of this advanced respirator.

This protection is intended for all who are at high risk of contact with coronavirus COVID19 and who are unable to access the fully functional FFP3 protective device and shield for the time being. These are not only healthcare professionals, pharmacists, but also shop workers who are in contact with a large number of people and are in close contact.