South Korea unveils inflatable isolation ward
South Korean experts say they have designed an inflatable "detrimental pressure" ward for isolating and treating patients with infectious diseases just like COVID-19, following the pandemic exposed shortages of such beds around the world. The areas use a ventilation program that creates harmful pressure to allow air to flow into the isolation room and be channelled out properly, helping prevent the pass on of airborne pathogens.They have grown to be a essential tool for fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but many countries have struggled to create them quickly more than enough.
The mobile clinic modules designed by a study team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are large greenhouse-like inflatable tents, which the institute said cost a fifth of the price of building a conventional hospital ward. Nam Tek-jin, an industrial design and style professor who led the KAIST workforce, says their tents, which will be the size of a basketball court, could be installed and outfitted in less than a day.
"In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, services for mild patients weren't big a problem, but we pointed out that space for seriously ill people was urgently in want as their state would suddenly deteriorate," Nam told Reuters."We considered developing a facility for not only isolation, but also treatment."The frames, panels, and lighting could be assembled on the spot to form a poor pressure room with another access space and a shower pod in only 15 minutes, and it requires less than a day to establish up the whole air tent with several such areas, he said.
The bedrooms are also equipped with panels that allow medical workers to supply aid or pass things like food without having to enter the area and avoiding burn out from wearing cumbersome equipment, said Cho Min-su, a director at the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences. Nam said the models are prepared for mass production, but no customers have already been announced yet.
