Villanova University reported that a professor from the College of Engineering is working on a monitoring system for individuals who are at risk of COVID-19 before the virus takes hold. 

Moeness Amin, Ph.D. and Director of the College of Engineering’s Center for Advanced Communications is working alongside RTM Vital Signs LLC to build a system designed to anticipate the virus’ severity in an individual by using sensors and a smartphone application. 

“Instead of measuring breathing through the lungs, it is more informative from a data analysis and classification perspective to assess respiratory conditions by acquiring the signals through the tracheal notch,” Dr. Amin said. 

Dr. Amin was given $24,802 to work on developing the machine and sensor, which has a number of sophisticated features. These include an accurate measurement of heart rate, oxygen saturation, temperature and tracheal sound. The data can also be received wirelessly through the app and analyze the individual’s respiratory health. Finally, the app creates a risk-index-score based on the results of the test. 

“In many cases, by the time an individual becomes aware of and recognizes any single, or multiple COVID-19 symptoms, they are already in danger of permanent health damage or death,” Dr. Amin said. “We are trying to help solve a really big problem.”

The device is designed to be able to be used in homes, at clinics and in hospitals. It can send alerts to individuals who need them, such as nurses, caretakes, family members and first responders.

The sensor is smaller than a quarter is securely attached to the user’s skin so that it will not come loose.

This project is one of two of the university’s engineering initiatives which was chosen for funding from seven projects, related to finding solutions for diagnosing and treating the virus through the school’s Manufacturing PA Innovation Program COVID-19 Challenge.