Jan Steckel and team develop device to aid the fight against COVID-19 worldwide

With his team at Flanders Make @UAntwerp, Prof Jan Steckel (Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology) developed a device for remote lung examinations to help doctors around the world fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Trials in the Antwerp University hospital are still ongoing.

Frequent lung examination is key to monitor Covid-19 patients, and quite challenging for the medical staff. Doctors need to enter the patients’ rooms, wearing sterile clothing and they need to change clothes and wash their hands before seeing each next patient. To improve safety and reduce their workload, a team of researchers from Flanders Make @ UAntwerp invented a remote stethoscope system that enables lung examinations without direct contact with patients. Tests are going on in the Antwerp University Hospital. The system will be offered as an open-source solution to support doctors worldwide.