HUST's Students Invent Smart Reminder Device To Help Minimize Doctors’ Contact With COVID-19 Patients

Smart reminder device to help doctors during COVID-19 pandemic

While the second COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam has been showing signs of slowing down, medical facilities in the epicenter of Đà Nẵng are still treating hundreds of patients, and there have been many cases of medical staff contracting the virus as they work on the frontlines.

To contribute to the nationwide effort against the pandemic, a group of students from the Hanoi University of Science and Technology has invented a smart reminder device that allows doctors to communicate with patients remotely, minimizing contact and risks of transmission.

The smart reminder device can connect to Wi-Fi and be controlled remotely

Image credit: Chu Cuong

The device has a simple design with a hard plastic case, an on-off switch, and a jack in the back to recharge its battery. The internal parts include a recorder, a speaker, and other components that allow the device to connect to Wi-Fi.

The inventors behind the product
Image credit: Minh Huy Nguyen

Users can either record a voice message on the smart reminder device itself to be replayed at a later time, or control the device from afar using a mobile app or a website.

Doctors can set playback time from afar
Video credit: BK Star

By letting each patient have a smart reminder device and using the remote control mobile app, doctors and medical workers at COVID-19 quarantine facilities can record messages on their own phones and have them play out loud on the patients’ devices at specific times. This not only helps minimize contact, but also saves doctors the physical effort of moving among hospital wards to communicate with multiple patients.

It was intended to serve everyday purposes

Image credit: Minh Huy Nguyen

According to Nguyễn Minh Huy, one of the inventors, the smart reminder device was originally invented to help out with people’s everyday life. However, the group has refined the tool so that it can serve in COVID-19 quarantine facilities.

“My grandma has a habit of going to the market in the morning, but she has a pretty bad memory. So I gave her a smart reminder, with which she can record her own voice and play it back the next morning. That way, she can remember what to buy,” Huy told tuoitre.vn.

Hundreds of these smart reminder devices have been delivered to frontline hospitals to be put to practical use
Image credit: Chu Cuong

Yesterday, 100 smart reminders were delivered to the Hòa Vang Field Hospital in Đà Nẵng – where the majority of COVID-19 patients in the city are being treated – to be put into use.  Another 50 are also making their way to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi today.

Smart devices help in COVID-19 quarantine facilities

As one of Vietnam’s leading universities, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology is known for having produced countless engineering talents. Since COVID-19 first crossed our border earlier this year, the university’s students and teachers have come up with many inventions to contribute to the nationwide fight against the pandemic, such as made-in-Vietnam ventilators and full-body disinfection chambers.

As the latest creative idea from these talented young minds to be implemented into practice, hopefully the smart reminder can help ease the burdens of frontline medical workers who are working day and night to keep us safe.

Cover image adapted from Minh Huy Nguyen and Chu Cuong

By The Smart Local Vietnam