The Institute - December 2020 - TI-15

by using the spirometer and reaching
the target tidal volume.
What challenges have you faced
and how did you overcome them?

Packaging the device was very challenging. There is a wide variety of disposable incentive spirometers available to
medical facilities. We designed InSee
to fit those that are most often used in
hospitals, such as the Vyaire Medical
AirLife volumetric incentive spirometer. This allows InSee to easily and
readily fit a variety of low-cost disposable incentive spirometers without any
modifications.

What is the potential impact
of the technology?

By adding InSee to existing incentive spirometers, hospitals will be able to record,
monitor, and evaluate patients' respiratory exercises as well as remind and
encourage the patient to use the device.
This will also minimize contact between
patients and providers and reduce the
risk of transmission of the coronavirus.
How close are you to
the final product?

We were granted a U.S. patent in April
and hope to receive funding soon so
we can build 200 units and begin clinical trials. Trials will take place at HCA
Gulf Coast, in Houston, and Houston

innovations in IEEE's field of interest. Along with the recognition, awardees get a free year of IEEE membership.
In the months before the pandemic, the company had
developed a prototype of its Fusion Vision System and had
demonstrated it to several fire departments.
When COVID-19 began spreading throughout Canada, Jia
and his colleagues realized they could use some of the same
technologies to combat the spread of the virus, so they began
a side project. To detect a high body temperature, which is
a common symptom of COVID-19, the startup used components from the visor to build Gatekeeper, a thermal-imaging
system. Gatekeeper can be mounted on a wall or tripod to
measure body temperature of up to five people at once.
Several units have been installed in long-term-care facilities, grocery stores, and universities, Jia says.
AR VISORS

Jia, a mechanical engineer, says he has been a fan of AR technology for some time. His undergraduate capstone project at McMaster University, in Hamilton, was about how AR could be used
in vehicle head-up displays. Such displays, which already exist
in some vehicles, can project information on the windshield,
including navigation instructions, speed limit, and mileage.
Jia, who earned a bachelor's degree in automotive engineering technology, was a member of the university's IEEE

Methodist, pending approval from the
institutional review board.
We launched our startup, Tidal Medical
Technologies, in July. Through our startup,
we have produced medical-grade prototypes that have been in use at local hospitals since October.
How can other IEEE members
get involved?

Members who are interested in helping
us improve the design of our device can
email me: farahman@sonoma.edu.
- JOANNA GOODRICH
This article originally appeared online as
" Infrared Device Helps Monitor COVID-19
Patients' Breathing Therapy. "

student branch. He later earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the school.
He launched Longan in 2018 with five colleagues shortly
after graduating. At first, the job wasn't full time. To get business experience under his belt, as well as an understanding
of how to manufacture products, he worked as a mechanical engineer for material-handling-equipment company Skyjack and automotive supplier Magna.
Today he works full time for Longan, which has five other
full-time employees and two interns.
His initial idea was to develop AR glasses that integrated
thermal imaging for industrial applications, such as Google
Glass and Microsoft HoloLens. The company changed direction after several fires in Ontario caused major losses of life
and property.
" In some of these incidents, firefighters lost their lives
saving people while the building was collapsing around
them, " Jia says. " They needed to fight not only the fire but
also [a lack of ] time. Additionally, they needed to overcome
obstacles, like lack of communication and terrible visibility.
Their bravery inspired me. "
Today's firefighters use outdated technology, he says. He
compares their equipment to cellphones of the past-which
offered only basic features such as calling and texting. He
wants to give first responders commercially available smart
THE INSTITUTE | DEC 2020 | TI-15

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/ https://www.tidalmed.tech/products https://www.tidalmed.tech/products https://www.hcagulfcoast.com/ https://spectrum.ieee.org/news-from-around-ieee/the-institute/ieee-member-news/infrared-device-helps-monitor-covid19-patients-breathing-therapy https://www.hcagulfcoast.com/ https://www.houstonmethodist.org/ https://spectrum.ieee.org/news-from-around-ieee/the-institute/ieee-member-news/infrared-device-helps-monitor-covid19-patients-breathing-therapy https://site.ieee.org/sb-mcmaster/leadership/ https://www.skyjack.com/ https://www.skyjack.com/ https://www.magna.com/ https://www.mcmaster.ca/ https://www.mcmaster.ca/ https://site.ieee.org/sb-mcmaster/leadership/

The Institute - December 2020

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