Page 13 - Berita Sunway - Issue 69

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

FIGHTING THE PANDEMIC WITH

INNOVATION

Sunway Installs Contactless COVID-19 Testing Pod to Protect Healthcare Workers

very month, Malaysia’s healthcare The first team led by Sunway iLabs director Matt
workers under the Health Ministry use 59 van Leeuwen put up a project management flow
Emillion units of PPE in the fight against to work on a new prototype, while members
the COVID-19 virus, according to Malaysian of social enterprise EPIC Homes sourced for
health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham materials and provided feedback to improve on
Abdullah. the original design.

While Malaysia is in a state of gradual recovery Meanwhile, the second team of doctors and
with a decline in new reported cases, COVID-19 biomedical engineers gave feedback on the
remains a threat and resurgence in cases may usability, airflow, pressure system and other As the booth is air-conditioned, medical officers
happen, as seen in countries such as Korea and key features to be included in the prototype. The can spend most of their entire shift inside,
Hong Kong. medical team then advised on the practicality of minimising the number of times they need
the booth when it came to using the right gloves, to enter and exit the booth. The air inside the
With severe and mounting disruption to the positioning of intercoms to communicate with booth is filtered thoroughly and under positive
global supply of PPE, healthcare workers face those outside the booth and the screening pressure, minimising the need for PPEs as well
the threat of being ill-equipped to care for workflow. as the healthcare worker’s need to put on and
COVID-19 patients. remove the PPE — a process where infections
After three weeks, the first improved COVID-19 can potentially occur.
In response to this, SunMed collaborated with testing pod was completed and is currently used
Sunway iLabs to build a contactless COVID-19
testing pod to enable healthcare workers to in a designated tent outside SunMed for active When in use, the gloves are cleaned with an
testing.
conduct testing for suspected patients in a alcohol solution between patients and the
safer and efficient manner. Being contactless, front panel is wiped down with disinfectant
the testing pod also lessens PPE usage, as HOW DOES IT WORK? after contact. An acrylic tray, located at the
medical officers can stay within the booths for The booth was constructed for ease of front where samples and swabs are placed, is
longer periods of time during their shifts. movement, especially under restricted, high- removed between patients and immersed in
risk environments in hospitals. Powder-coated disinfectant to sanitise it further and to ensure
COVID-19 TESTING POD: steel was used to construct the frame, and its all surfaces are kept as hygienic as possible.
walls were formed with aluminium composite
A TEAM EFFORT panels coated with PVDF specialty polymer LIVING LAB TO BREED INNOVATION
As Malaysians rallied together to help produce coating that is easy to clean and more corrosion- This project bears testament to the innovative
PPEs for front liners, Macam Yes Studios prop resistant. Acrylic panels were used in the front, cross-collaboration between the different
builder Brian Lee and Vortex Media executive with laser-cut ports for gloves to attend to the components under Sunway City Kuala Lumpur,
director Kenneth Lim teamed up to produce patients. a living laboratory with a thriving ecosystem
makeshift pressure pods, inspired by a South to test and transform ideas into sustainable
Korean invention they had seen. To further curb infections, gloves, trays and solutions.
panels outside the booth are cleaned and
Their efforts caught the attention of Dr Wendy disinfected regularly.
Tay of SunMed, who grouped two teams of The brainchild of Sunway University, Sunway
doctors, biomedical engineers and innovators Group and Sunway Ventures, Sunway iLabs is
together to build an improved version of the pod a non-profit start-up incubator and accelerator
that offers students and entrepreneurs access
for the hospital.
to mentorship, market access and investments
they need to innovate and scale up their
business ideas.
Currently, Sunway iLabs’ ongoing programmes
include the FutureX Farm, an urban farm
innovation hub; the iLabs Accelerator for start-
ups, the Innovation Matching Fund launch for
Sunway Business Units; a Business Ideation
Generator programme and Make it Challenge
for students, as well as the launch of the first
42 KL campus in Malaysia that provides open-
to-all and tuition-free courses to train the best
developers in the world.

BERITA SUNWAY | JUL—SEP 2020 | 13