The Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, has encouraged our faculty members to apply their engineering expertise to develop and produce innovations that are medically urgent and necessary. These will be delivered to hospitals across the country for the treatment of patients and help prevent COVID-19 for the medical team of doctors and nurses, as well as the people who are tested for infection. The faculty supported a budget of 1 million baht last year and 2 million baht for the most recent outbreak of COVID-19, totaling 3 million baht under the “Engineering Fights Against COVID-19” project (โครงการวิศวฯ ร่วมต้านภัย COVID-19).
The innovative work of COVID-19 developed by our faculty has received positive feedback from the medical team, such as the Positive Pressure Isolation Chambers and Face Shields, which have already been used in more than 100 hospitals, for example at Siriraj Hospital, Chulalongkorn Hospital Samut Sakhon Hospital and Pathumthani Hospital. Regarding the COVID-19 Disinfectant Aerosol Robot, this invention is also currently used at the Kanchanaphisek Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine of Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University, the COVID-19 Command Center at the Sattahip Royal Thai Navy base and at the Queen Sirikit Hospital Department of Naval Medicine in Chon Buri Province, among others, whereby the team has improved the efficacy of COVID-19 innovation continuously following the advice of the medical team.
Positive Pressure Isolation Chamber: This equipment allows doctors and nurses to conduct swabs from this chamber without direct contact with patients who remain outside. The chamber has a glass door entrance that ensures safety and ease of use. It is capable of examining 20 to 30 patients per hour. It is designed and developed by a team of our Mechanical Engineering department, led by Asst.Prof. Dr. Prapot Kunthong, Head of the Department; Assoc.Prof. Dr. Weerachai Chaiworapuek, Asst.Prof. Dr. Kriengkrai Assawamartbunlue, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Attaporn Wisessint and Asst.Prof. Dr. Jay-Tawee Pukrushpan.
Face Shield: The structure of the Face Shield is created with the injection molding machine of the Industrial Manufacturing Technology Research and Development Center, Faculty of Engineering. The production capacity is 700-800 units per day, supervised by Asst.Prof.Dr. Kunnayut Eiamsa-ard from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The transparent sheets and elastic are assembled to the face shield by our personnel and students. The chief benefits of this product are that it is lightweight, with an adjustable size, and does not create fogging on the mask.
The COVID-19 Disinfectant Aerosol Robot: Developed by Asst. Prof. Panya Lao-anantana and his research team from the Department of Electrical Engineering. It is a robot for spraying disinfectants which can reduce the risk to operators whilst spraying the solution. It is lightweight and has a camera attached to the robot body, making it possible to view the operations remotely via a phone or small screen, and is ideal for public areas and surrounding buildings.
Source: https://www.eng.ku.ac.th/news/?p=5909