COVID-19: A thread to share some thoughts and events

Paul - more important to stay safe and keep your sanity at this point. Know you want to get T.41 out but you all are more important!
 
Semi-Covid related question? I hate to patronize any business that are stayng open (no matter how vital) which are not seriously stepping up their game wrt. their employees, and the general public safety.
That said, does anyone know of any PCB vendors who have already implemented all the CDC, NIH, etc. procedures, and who's employees feel comfortable making a short run of a new Teensy 4.0 design?
Thanks All,
-John
"flatten the curve"!
 
Morning @KurtE
Got curious so here is a link to their interactive map for the US: https://healthweather.us/. Interesting when you look at the details for a area and their explaination. I will let you all explore. Oh, just don't use MS Edge. Use something like Firefox

I am not sure yet where their real interactive map is, but I believe it is called the "kinsa us health weather map"
You can find it talked about in several places on the web including: https://www.inputmag.com/tech/kinsa...ng-is-ahead-of-its-time-but-we-need-more-data
and: https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/23/k...l-it-is-to-stay-home-to-stop-covid-19-spread/
 
Project#2 related: Here is an interesting example of what can be done (with effort and the right resources)... (its CPAP)...

https://eandt.theiet.org/content/ar...tm_content=E&T News - Members&utm_term=953592

No doubt there will be many examples in the coming weeks and months. It would be great to see a Teensy inside something like this.
It will be interesting, but also yesterday heard some one ask an expert in critical care... about using CPAP or the like for COVID-19, and he stated that using a CPAP would risk putting secretions into aerosol form. Which would put all of the health care workers and nearby patients at a high risk.

But maybe that Wales one has addressed this.
 
Just a quick update - PJRC is still up and running, but it's down to just Robin & me. We asked our hourly employees to stay home starting last week, and Oregon now has a "shelter in place" order. While that order does allow for some work to continue with certain conditions (which we would be challenged to meet in good faith), we didn't feel right about exposing our employees and their families, who are otherwise limiting their contact pretty well.

Robin & I have been crazy busy last week and this week, trying to do all the stuff we normally do, plus the testing and packaging of products our hourly employees would normally do.

I have also been working to bring up the bed-of-nails test fixture for Teensy 4.1. At least 1 more PCB spin (and maybe more) will be needed before the tester is ready. My hope is to get as far as I can with the first tester rev and order a new PCB this weekend. After that PCB is ordered, you'll see more of me on the forum. I'm also planning to put some time into website updates while we wait for that PCB. But right now, if I don't stay focused on this, it risks setting back Teensy 4.1.

Then again, coronavirus slowdown is casting a huge shadow of uncertainty on the timing of everything. We definitely are trying to move forward with Teensy 4.1 as quickly as we can under these circumstances. I'm not going to make any predictions on time frame, nor discuss the specific features. Just know we are working on the new product, and continuing to run PJRC - and it's a huge amount of work.

Paul & Robin; just wanted to say thank you for all your doing and have done! Keep up the good work, stay safe and healthy! Looking forward to supporting you with an order when the 4.1 is available! Again Thanks!
 
That said, does anyone know of any PCB vendors who have already implemented all the CDC, NIH, etc. procedures, and who's employees feel comfortable making a short run of a new Teensy 4.0 design?

I can not say for sure with any new orders, but just got notification from OSHPark, that the boards I ordered on March 12th were received and shipped today.
And I believe that at least the ones I have used in China, such as PCBWay and Seeedstudio are both again shipping.
 
Just to chime in with bigboosted here...... Good to know Paul. I'm sure you'll get PJRC's people and business through this. Who'd have thought?
 
and with special Greetings to the soldering Godess, Erin.

Erin (aka Soldering Goddess) left PJRC about 1 year after the Teensy 3.6 release. She had working here nearly 5 years. We were sad to see her go, but honestly a person of her caliber really should be moving upwards in their career, as I understand she has been doing.

She did come back last year for a few days on a consulting basis, to solder most of the Teensy 4 beta test boards.
 
If she doesn;t hum it whilst soldering, send her a link to "Soldering" a reggae song by Hall & Oats. Definite nice earworm when you flick on the Weller. :)
 
But maybe that Wales one has addressed this.

Hi Kurt, reading the article, my take is that this COVID EMERGENCY VENTILATOR is for home use. The air will be full of contaminated aerosol. The description even explains that it sucks in the ambient atmosphere and cleans it up. This is good, for it should reduce the concentration in the family home (maybe). I'm guessing that its the exposure to concentrated pathogen dose that is the real killer. I keep wondering why that Chinese Doctor who raised the first alarm in Wuhan died? He would know what he was doing observing strict protocols.

The other advantage of this form of machine is that it prevents a possible hospital visit, and thereby keeps beds free - a vital resource.

I've sent an exploratory email to Dr Thomas, to see if he is willing to share info. I noted that the CR CLARK company referred to is a plastics manufacturer. My guess from the photo is that this is a very simple device, with a stepper motor and controller box, coupled with pressurising co-axial fan and filter preceding. I think the big hole that seems to surround the piping to the patient is the air intake.

Your reference to "Kinsa US health Weather Map" is also intriguing. And shows that even basic temp logging has some community benefits for Project#1.

Now ideas of a centralised database could also be applied to Project#2. There's a bunch of parameters, pressure, humidity etc. that could be monitored remotely - but that's getting ahead. For a "COVID Health Weather Map", combine Project#1 and Project#2 data remotely, and you have a "test" that's more accurate for geographical predictions.

Geeze, this is getting very interesting...
 
The new "Emergency Powers Act" came into law last night throughout the UK. There is a whole bunch of things in it. One likely to be used quickly will be a £30 instant fine for being caught on the streets without an "accepted" reason. Also, coughing or spitting at police will likely incur jail.

Our shared ideas and thoughts are important. Teensanity is important. However, I find myself very tempted to comment on politics. Not so much party politics, but more the economic impact of unfolding events. I'm not sure how much longer this will be tenable in this thread, but I will think very hard before I hit the submit button. :eek:

Edit: Boris Johnson, our PM has just announced he is COVID-19 positive. Also Prince Charles tested positive yesterday.

Edit2: On the technical side, I have been researching about the virus on surfaces and the way that the virus persists. It would seem that CARDBOARD (and PAPER) are surfaces which will "absorb" the virus into them, and fairly soon (not days) break it down by organic interactions. The reverse is true for hard surfaces, such as metal and plastics. The virus is sticky and will stick to your skin surface, hence the reason for soap etc.

The way this virus enters the alveoli of your lungs is by ACE2 receptors. If you want to know more on the bio side, I found this video very informative (if a bit lengthy)... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWzbArPgo-o
 
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Making progress on project# 1. Not wasting effort on jumper wires, currently have an off-cut of protoboard populated with headers and pins soldered for full T3.2 breakout, 1-bit SD, either Nokia or Oled screen. Next, Vbat then think about user interface hardware, - an encoder, (x) buttons and some kind of alarm output, perhaps two and some leds of course. Then think of connecting the dots... I'm not thinking of a fancy box so it won't be the first project that gets wapped in cardboard and gaffer tape.

As for how to cope, take a quick relevant mental snapshot of the daily news then turn it OFF! Try to not let the vicarious fear, anger or whatever stick. Work on stuff that produces tangible and visible results.

Be your best and lastly, best wishes to all.
 
Cheap Digital Thermometer Teardown

Cheap digital thermometers seem to be still widely available on eBay. I ordered two yesterday. I am using one that I've had for a long time for my own measurements, and I wondered about battery life. Can't easily change it on my model so I wanted to know exactly what was on the inside. Maybe we could interface one of these to Teensy to make a good clinically proven data logger? What would be the best Teensy way to auto-transmit data over the net, if we wanted to make a Health Weather Map component?

The picture attached shows the guts of this device (they all seem to use the same basic pcb module). I thought previously that the sensor would be a thermistor, but it would now appear to be a thermocouple. You can tell this from the circular device on the left-hand end of the pcb. This will be some reference bi-metal junction. Its the "difference" in the milliVoltage electropotentials of the sensor junction with the reference junction that is amplified to drive the LCD display. I wonder if the chip is commercially available? Does anyone know what it will be - we can then study the data sheet?

DigiThermom02.jpg

Further research on COVID-19 has revealed that the virus shedding (and so infectiousness) starts around 2.5 days before the onset of symptoms, reaching a peak when the symptoms appear, and (presumably) becoming much lower after 5 days (hence the medical advice). So if we do see a change in our body temp to fever levels, its too late to prevent contamination. Social distancing has to be the remedy.

A professor here (https://apple.news/AYXQyJZ8jQwCtEPPdPbSNJg) raises the fact that this coronavirus issue has been understood for a long time now. I heard another story that this virus is likely to mutate every year so we will need a seasonal jab just like influenza for the future (once the vaccine has been approved).

Edit: Forgot to mention - Clinical Director for Scotland made a good point yesterday. The flu season has now reached the end (presumably in Europe), so if you do get a high fever its almost certain to be COVID-19. Sounds like a fairly reliable "test" now.
 
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How about using a Medical thermometer to calibrate a home-brew DS18B20 based logger? - which is what I plan to do.

That way, no electronic microsurgery is needed for a user to get one working.
 
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Haha. I'm not thinking of inserting it. I want it monitoring 24/7. I don't care if it means wearing a headband or some kind of collar to keep the sensor in place.

It's also easy to add more DS18B20 if needed.
 
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is used for detection of organic and non-organic chemical substances. That "detection" then goes on to produce spectrums and even brilliant 3D imaging. But it might also produce a cure (WHAT? yes, wild speculation). How? If a molecule can give out energy as NMR (perhaps that should be MMR - Molecular Magnetic Resonance), then it can also take it in. If we generate Radio/Light of the correct frequency, or combo of frequencies, and at the appropriate/safe power levels, we can make the virion molecule increasing resonate and oscillate - possibly to destruction?
That is above my pay grade, but FWIW my wife is a lead Nuclear Medicine Technician at a cardiac clinic. So if you need access to a gamma camera, she maybe could work that out.
Edit: And if you need something looked up...20200330_080434[1].jpg
 
"using a CPAP would risk putting secretions into aerosol form." - KurtE
This is certainly a concern. For any design, it might be effective to simply capture the exhaust into a disposable/washable tube and HEPA exhaust filter. Unfortunately. many CPAP masks are vented by small holes with no hose attachment points. Correctable with a bit of epoxy and duct tape, but a better mask preferred.20200330_082228[1].jpgHEPA exhaust filter from vacuum cleaner.
 
@slomobile - The idea of using NMR/MMR as a specific SARS-CoV-2 test (wild speculation) would be attractive if this could be engineered into something like a "finger tunnel", where insertion of a digit could produce a result within minutes. The problem would be "how to recognise" the signals in the midst of a lot of other protein/organic noise. Artificial intelligence is a possible method if many COVID-19 patients are identified and samples of blood analysed. The signal levels are going to be ridiculously low, but if fine spectral frequencies are picked out then it might just be feasible. I have floated the diagnostic test idea with an expert in NMR to consider. Resonating these to destruction is even wilder speculation - but not theoretically impossible. I destroyed a 60 KHz crystal that way :) (but not discussed with NMR expert!).

I have had a report that the interesting "bio video" I mentioned before sometimes does not open in a browser. I think this is an update (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uYuNvh_b6c), but you can search YouTube yourselves for "Ninja Nerd Medicine" and "COVID-19" to find it. There are actually two of them. The first is about "pathophysiology" (disease pathway) and the second is "treatment", which includes how to use ventilation to optimise the benefits. They are exceptionally great.

SARS-CoV-2 enters the alveoli "type 2 surfactant" cells (type 1 is the oxygen exchanger) by attaching to the ACE2 receptor in the walls of the type 2 cell. CHLOROQUINE inhibits ACE2 receptors. So you need to take CHLOROQUINE before you are infected. This is like malaria prevention. Another drug REMDESIVIR inhibits "RNA-dependant RNA polymerase" which is how new RNA for the new viral cells is produced by viral action inside the alveoli cell. Both these drugs sound very promising but they have side effects.

The video also has some great Chest X-Ray, CT SCAN, and Ultrasound Scan pictures, showing how the disease shows up diagnostically. And it explains why "Cytokines" (chemical alarm messengers) enter the blood stream and hit the Pituitary in the brain, which in turn raises the set-point for body temperature regulation and causes the fever. That's what Project#1 is looking for.

Lack of surfactant results in collapsing alveoli and creates shortness of breath. A small positive air pressure stops the collapse, especially on end of the exhale. That's where CPAP can help those not yet critical - Project#2. I think the Formula 1 guys might have the technical edge on us!

Edit: The vacuum HEPA filter is an excellent idea.

Edit2: Seems that even NXP have got into the act... https://www.nxp.com/applications/so...ure-cpap-machine:AIRWAY-PRESSURE-CPAP-MACHINE
 
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