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Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

helpwithcovid.com

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Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#171

Post by momofarm »

willturman wrote: post #128
0xfaded wrote: post #22

I have an idea to increase viral RNA test throughput (PCR) by 46.5 times using a binary encoding scheme that I hope someone here might be able to validate/invalidate. Sorry for the thread jack, but I tried posting this yesterday but didn't get picked up. https://wet-robots.ghost.io/how-to-increase-covid-19-testing...

I do custom applications for a liquid handling robotics company. Nucleotide extraction and amplification are some of the most common contemporary applications of modern liquid handling robots. Cherry-picking or sorting of samples is also a technique that is common and well within the functionaltiy of these robots. To avoid cross-contamination, diagnostic samples are typically not mixed and handled in discrete wells w…

sounds like Agilent / Thermo Scientific / CTC

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#172

Post by ddxxdd »

omegaworks wrote: post #151
hawaiianbrah wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t see how they’re completely useless for protecting the wearer. If someone infected sneezes in my face, would I not be better off with a physical barrier over a point of entry into my system?

Droplets on the mask and you breathe them in right through it.

Surgical masks contain a wax barrier that prevents the healthcare worker from spreading their own germs.

If a surgical mask can stop germs from going out of the mouth, then I better hear a more rigorous reason why that same mask doesn't work in the opposite direction.

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#173

Post by ajoy »

The US spends so much money on defense and making sure soldiers are prepared for war.

Right now, our soldiers in this war are our frontline medical staff. Nurses and doctors putting their lives on the line to help the ones in need.

But instead we have this :

Hospital Workers Make Masks From Office Supplies Amid U.S. Shortage (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/hospital-...)

Doctors in New York treating coronavirus patients reusing masks (https://www.businessinsider.com/doctors-new-york-treating-co...)

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#174

Post by aaron695 »

vorpalhex wrote: post #43
aaron695 wrote: post #25

This should have started months ago when it hit China to help them. So try to be forward thinking. Don't just think in the now. In Italy some places don't treat people without families for instance (The excuse is they have no one to care for them after ICU, but we know the real reason) Tinder for fake family's for instance?

> In Italy some places don't treat people without families for instance This is false and not aligned to the current guidelines[^1] put out for triage of cases. > So try to be forward thinking. Don't just think in the now. People need groceries today . Projects are attempting to fill those gaps we need, not the theoretical ones we might have tomorrow. Sure, you should keep an eye on the future, but you need to addres…

> This is false and not aligned to the current guidelines[^1] put out for triage of cases.

"Every time a bed comes free, two anaesthesiologists consult with a specialist in resuscitation and an internal medicine physician to decide who will occupy it.

Age and pre-existing medical conditions are important factors. So is having a family.

“We have to take into account whether older patients have families who can take care of them once they leave the ICU, because they will need help,” says Marco Resta, deputy head of Policlinico San Donato’s Intensive Care Unit."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-...

What is the false bit?

I'm talking about what is happening, not the guidelines.

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#175

Post by yiyus »

ajross wrote: post #90
tensor wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there is a choice, and as a Canadian why on earth would you expect me to work for your reserve supply instead of mine? The US needs a reality check.

I don't know how to answer that. I can tell you that as an American, I might not necessarily want to help with a "Ventilators for Canadians" project (vs. other stuff I could be doing), but I certainly wouldn't argue it shouldn't exist. Get stuff done folks. The time for parochialism has passed, and the time for recriminations and justice must be in the future.

> but I certainly wouldn't argue it shouldn't exist.

Nobody has argued that.

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#176

Post by sradu »

_bxg1 wrote: post #78

I realize this is probably a work in progress, but as a suggestion, it would really benefit from better navigation: - Sorting (particularly by # of volunteers, to find ones that aren't filled up) - Searching by string - Maybe tags that can be searched by? (skillsets wanted, etc.) - Projects could list an estimated number of needed volunteers; "Does 86 mean they don't need any more?" Overall, excellent idea and it loo…

We're working on this!

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#178

Post by umbelisco »

taborj wrote: post #159

Hopefully some of these aren't re-inventing the wheel. For instance, currently the first one is helping build APIs for getting healthcare data. This is potentially a solved problem; indeed, interoperability is rather a large market in the healthcare world (I speak as someone who does this for a living).

curious where you would start tackling it? what are the right building blocks that can be accessed for devs building solutions? from an outside perspective there is little access to data across the silos. im helping coordinate the project, not a healthcare expert myself (rather coming from the api / data side from other verticals), so happy about your thoughts.

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#179

Post by ardy42 »

ddxxdd wrote: post #172
omegaworks wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Droplets on the mask and you breathe them in right through it.

Surgical masks contain a wax barrier that prevents the healthcare worker from spreading their own germs. If a surgical mask can stop germs from going out of the mouth, then I better hear a more rigorous reason why that same mask doesn't work in the opposite direction.

> If a surgical mask can stop germs from going out of the mouth, then I better hear a more rigorous reason why that same mask doesn't work in the opposite direction.

One word: leakage.

Watch this:

Healthcare - Mask vs. Respirator Video - 3M Worker Health and Safety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR2uLfEVD2w

Re: Covid-19 projects looking for volunteers

#180

Post by momofarm »

0xfaded wrote: post #64
svara wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is great in principle. But this is going to be a problem: "We need a mechanical device which can automatically sort the samples into well group" PCR machines are actually not that complicated by comparison. Basically just a programmable heater. Last time I looked into it (admittedly a while ago, so feel free to correct me), pipetting robots kind of sucked and weren't very precise. Correctly handling tiny (mi…

Yeah, liquid handling is not fun. However, I hoped this could be somehow bypassed by physically sorting the swabs into beakers before centrifuge and then deriving a well sample from each beaker. I'm admittedly not the right person to implement this, and ideas are cheap. I just want to make sure the idea is out there.

Do you have the full procedure? can you list here?

I know there is a liquid handling machine made by CTC [1], which could handle very small volume of liquid, and do a lot of custom procedures.

Still, cross contamination is still a issue.

[1] https://www.ctc.ch/

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