Over recent months, Da Nang has seen more active engagement by many local citizens, businesses and tertiary establishments in creating many scientific products which aim to facilitate the city’s tough combat against the novel coronavirus.

A view of the BK-AntiCovid developed by the Mechanics Faculty of the Da Nang University of Science and Technology

During the first wave of the coronavirus hitting the city in April, talented lecturers and  students from the Da Nang University of Technology and Education jointly made the debut of scientific products.

Noticeable amongst them are the automatic disinfectant hand washing machine, which was the joint brainchild of Mr Le Tan Thong, a lecturer from this university’s Faculty of Electrical – Electronics, and his students.

The machine features the application of the antiseptic properties of UV (ultraviolet) rays), mainly used to kill bacteria in cooked food and water.

In particular, the university donated highly practical machines to the Hai Chau General Hospital and the Da Nang Administration Centre in April.

Meanwhile, it took only several days for some lecturers from the Mechanics Faculty of the Da Nang University of Science and Technology to create a robot to deliver food, medicines and other necessary items to suspected coronavirus patients in hospital.

The robot called ‘BK-AntiCovid’ actually looks like a hospital cart and it can be cleaned and disinfected because it is made of 3-mm thick stainless-steel.

The robot is controlled by human hands with an omnidirectional adjustment button, whilst the movement speed is totally controlled by users. The relatively easy- to- use, well-designed, waterproof and compact robot features a streamlined structure and a maximum loading capacity of 100kg.

In particular, the robot is also equipped with a camera and a speaker so that doctors can find it easier to observe patients' health conditions.

In late April, BK-AntiCovid was put into operation on a trial basis at the city-based Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital. The delivery robot was used in a bid to reduce workload for its medical staff and prevent cross infection here at that time.

More recently, the robot makes its presence at the C, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Da Nang General hospitals.

In a similar vein, over the past time, a number of enterprises operating in the city have focused on investing in creating many new scientific and technological products for the sake of the city’s pandemic prevention and control efforts.

The Danameco Medical Supplies Joint Stock Company has cooperated with the Da Nang Irradiation Centre (Vinagamma) to give the birth of anti-bacterial masks containing nano-silver.

Likewise, the Thien Nhan genetic testing company-developed fast Covid-19 testing solution using a specific RT Lamp method combined with classical RT PCR has recently gone to sale.

According to the municipal Department of Science and Technology, the research and manufacturing of new technology products and technical equipment to support pandemic prevention and control efforts has been regarded as one of the important and urgent tasks for the current contingent of the city’s science and technology sector to fulfill.

Over recent times, heed has been paid to encouraging local citizens, businesses, and tertiary establishments across the city to promote their creativity in applying advanced science and technology to create even more highly applicable products for the better practice of pandemic prevention measures.

By XUAN BINH – Translated by A.T