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Spread of saliva and aerosols in dental settings limited by new portable shield
In a timely development given the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have created a “portable tent-like shield”, according to News Medical: Life Sciences, which is place around a patient’s head, limiting exposure, both direct and indirect, by dentists and other dental staff to a range of infectious diseases.
The article notes that dental treatments typically involve working in close proximity to patients as well as leading to the “generation of aerosols as well as handling of oral fluids and blood.”
New AI-Based Eye Test may Predict Early Macular Disease
Written by AZoRoboticsDec 21 2020
Researchers from the University College London (UCL), in association with the Western Eye Hospital in London, have developed a first-of-its-kind eye test that may predict wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the most common cause of severe sight loss three years before the development of symptoms.
DARC image (above) and corresponding OCT image slice (below). Image Credit: Novai/UCL Institute of Ophthalmology/Western Eye Hospital.
The investigators believe that the new test could enable the early detection of the disease so that treatment can successfully prevent any loss of vision.
New portable shield prevents spread of saliva and aerosols generated during dental procedures
Dental treatments are performed at close proximity to the mouths and noses of the patients, and the procedures are often related to the generation of aerosols as well as handling of oral fluids and blood. This puts dentists at a high risk of exposure to COVID-19, and other critical infectious diseases.
Now, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have invented a portable tent-like shield to prevent the spread of saliva and aerosols generated during dental procedures. The Dental Droplet and Aerosol Reducing Tent (Dental DART) can be placed around the patient s head to serve as a barrier to protect dentists, nurses and patients from direct and indirect exposure to infectious diseases such COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for rapid and accurate nucleic acid detection at the point of care. To meet this need, scientists from the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology have developed a novel amplification-free rapid SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection platform based on hybrid capture fluorescence immunoassay (HC-FIA).