Impact of Covid-19 on Current sensor technology

Sensor technology now exists everywhere, from tights to kitchens, robotic jellyfish to wheelie bins. Sensors gradually prove to be the essential gateway between the Internet of Things and the virtual world. Sensors are now essential for almost every industrial sector, from transport to telephony. Regardless of its application, the role of the sensors is to identify and convert what is going on in the real world. They usually work via the measurement and control of data including light, heat, movement, or pressure that is turned into an electrical signal and then transmitted to other wireless equipment. Sensors in the future will be more intelligent and measure more accurately.

With COVID-19 arising, the earth is facing a pandemic and a global disaster, affecting almost trillions of dollars in revenues. Despite the World Health Organization saying that it has been a global health emergency since the COVID-19 virus outbreak in December 2019, the infection has spread to over 200+ countries across the globe. It helps researchers to understand the general virus scenario and make use of sensor technologies to enhance human life.

COVID-19 has created the awareness of primary health care for patients and remote monitoring of patient data.

Can COVID-19 be detected by air sensors?

The coronavirus pandemic has led scientists around the world to discover new ways to understand the virus with the help of sensors. The current sensor technologies are used to identify and follow the key signals indicating the symptoms of remote and confidential monitoring of Covid-19 at the early stage.  They measure the patient’s pulse, heart rate variability and respiratory rate remotely in non-invasive method. So early symptoms of the Covid-19 virus are detected and tracked in real time by sensors.

Apparently, COVID-19 can not be detected by air sensors in ventilation systems. However, new sensor technology can be extended one day to help us understand and monitor diseases.

Wearable sensor technology: 

Wearable devices like watches and wristbands can be awkward to wear, but may also be limited to the monitoring of their individual body tissue. Sensors embedded in textiles are washable by machine, making them a viable alternative for medical sensors for body applications with the primary purpose of not needing tape or special adhesives.

In the field of consumer medical technology, wearable technology products have been well accepted. Till now, this sector has been restricted to customers and healthcare providers. Throughout the healthcare sector, the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has increased the role of wearable technologies.

Testing and monitoring of healthcare is a crucial step as our daily work routines are gradually resumed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wearable Sensor Technology has made it possible to accurately measure many physiological parameters remotely, many of which are clinically useful in the monitoring of viral disease progression. Using wearable sensors can be an objective way of staying physically active and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, wearable device manufacturers provide all-in-one remote monitoring solutions. Health researchers are trying to identify small fluctuations of normal body functions that are indicative of wearable infection. Intelligent clothing with integrated sensors that enable remote monitoring and avoiding visits to the hospital.

Impact on Smart Sensors due to COVID-19

The smart sensor is a device that uses built-in computer sources to detect the specific input and then process information before transmitting it, to perform predefined functions. Intelligent sensors are expected to experience significant growth in the forecast era due to growing demand.

The current scenario is the development of a sensor that can detect coronavirus quickly and reliably. The development of wireless sensors sits gently on the throat to monitor cough, fever, and respiratory activity will be a solution for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In today’s COVID-19 scenario, sensors to measure and control body temperature need to be established urgently for the identification and isolation of COVID-19 cases and the tracking and prevention of viral spread. The identification of body temperature change and other critical data allows for early identification of COVID-19 symptoms.

Touchless Technology

The COVID-19 outbreak is a fast-growing, touchless technology that improves our lives better than ever before. This technology uses sensors to recognize the expressions, facial characteristics, or voice for work.

In voice communication, it interprets language using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), a tool that allows people to communicate with computers by means of speech. For identification, it uses sensors to classify our face characteristics and uses knowledge to recognize the person.  As a consequence of COVID-19, companies, including IT firms, suspended biometric attendance and incorporated the face recognition method.  The emerging areas in touchless technology include sensing items such as hand wash in toilets and the sanitizing spray system.

In the forecast era, sensor-based technologies hold the largest share of the touchless sensing market. The sensors are used mainly in touchless: infrared and capacitive sensors. Due to the latest Covid-19 pandemic, the need for touchless sensor technology has certainly become prominent. The high initial cost of touchless sensor technology products and the introduction of them is a major constraint for the industry.

Conclusion

New innovations and developments have traditionally arisen after major events, including the two World Wars and the Spanish influenza epidemic. The effects of the new COVID 19 virus should also have a long-lasting effect. Major changes in the field of health care are expected following the pandemic subsidies including an overall transition to the pharmacy and home healthcare upgrade with the help of sensing technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a number of technological challenges for engineering to overcome and identify viruses before they can spread.

COVID-19 contributes to the science and technology sensor sectors that constitute and embedding data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in improving people’s lives. Technological developments have come with several accomplishments every day, they have enabled people to battle COVID-19 very intensively.

In its development from lower-level to higher-level, automation continues to grow in basic automated forms such as Robotic Process Automation ( RPA) or basic physical robotics.