Rourkela: While the outbreak of the Coronavirus has triggered panic across the globe, a student of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Odisha’s Rourkela has developed a mobile app for the diagnosis of the killer virus.
Talking to the media, Vineet Kumar, a PhD scholar of the institute said in 85 per cent cases, during the early stage of the infection, the patient suffers from high temperature, while in 15 per cent cases, no such symptoms are found. As it takes time for confirmation of the virus, the patients having early symptoms can be diagnosed through thermal detection with this app.
Asked how he could develop the app, Vineet said it has been developed by a thermal camera through an infrared (IR) sensor, which does a profile of the body temperature and scans different points. On the basis of the scanning, the app matches the profile pattern to determine whether a person has the virus. If the app detects a person afflicted with the virus, he/she can be referred for further screening. “You can say that this is a primary test, not a final test,” he said.
Referring to the new device, Vineet said one can see the temperature profiling for coronavirus from the internet. On the basis of the temperature profile, we have used a thermal camera, which is available on the internet. “If you take a photo or record the video of a person on your mobile phone, the app does the profiling of the person and tells whether he/she has the possibility of contracting the virus. If the app gives a green logo, it means that the patient has no virus. But if it gives a red logo, then it might be a case of infection,” he pointed out.
He also said that if the app receives a positive response from the government or the NIT, he can go for the basic installation of this app in all public places and screen as many people without interfering with their daily activity.
“After all, if we undergo proper screening and take all precautions, we can certainly stop further spread of the virus. To carry forward our mission, we will try to contact the Government of India on the use of this app. At least we will try for the proper use of this app in Odisha,” Vineet added.