With Handheld Device, Israelis Exposed to Coronavirus Monitor Their Own Conditions

This Israeli invention allows doctors to examine coronavirus patients remotely, limiting exposure to and spread of the deadly disease.

By United with Israel Staff

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer admitted and quarantined 12 Israelis exposed to the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) on Friday. The group was exposed to the disease during a cruise on the Diamond Princess in Japan. With concern of the virus spreading in Israel, the hospital issued a statement explaining its preparedness for containing the disease.

According to the statement, the Israelis will remain in isolation for the two week incubation period of the illness. They are located in an isolated, quarantined complex off the main hospital campus.

Each patient received a hand-held device, called TytoCare, that allows doctors to remotely examine the patients. In addition to being able to perform tests on the throat, ears, heart, abdomen, and skin, the device monitors pulse, body temperature, and lungs, where the COVID-19 virus strikes hardest.

TytoCare has FDA approval and can be purchased at Best Buy in the US. Thousands of families have already used it to protect themselves from bacteria and other contaminants, according to the company. The device has a 93 percent track record for doctors successfully diagnosing illnesses without a personal arrival to a clinic.

“The World Health Organization and the Israeli Ministry of Health recognize the coronavirus as necessitating readiness for citizens at home,” TytoCare Dedi Gilad CEO told the Maariv daily. “The medical panic that now exists in the world only sharpens the need for a product like TytoCare.”

Prof. Arnon Afek, Deputy Director General of Sheba Medical Center and Director of Sheba’s General Hospital explained the steps the hospital is taking to contain the virus, should any of the cruise members be a carrier.

According to Prof. Afek, “Sheba Medical Center has already prepared itself for any potential outbreak of COVID-19 weeks ago, so if anyone becomes ill, we are well prepared to deal with it. It is important to note that nearly 80 percent of COVID-19 patients around the world have had a non-complicated version of the virus, with symptoms not that different from the flu, which have been treated accordingly.”

‘Doing Everything We Can to Stop Spread of the Virus’

The Israeli patients who returned from the Japanese cruise are being overseen by Prof. Elhanan Bar-On, Director of Sheba Medical Center’s, Israel Center for Disaster Medicine & Humanitarian Response.

“We are doing everything we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Israel,” said Professor Bar-On.

“We are using some of the world’s most sophisticated hi-tech telemedicine applications taken from our start-up ecosystem at Sheba and Israel, using sensors, robots, and hand-held devices in order to minimize exposure to our medical staff,” he said. “The goal is to make our returning citizens feel comfortable in an environment where they will know that all of their needs will be taken care of.”

The telemedicine system relies on a “robot operated by the doctors from a remote location where they can monitor patient facial expressions and conduct basic check-ups.”

Though confirmed diagnoses of coronavirus require a lab test, TytoCare and several other telemedicine systems are being used to monitor the patients while protecting staff. These include Datos, a mobile app designed to directly and continuously connect patients with medical care-takers. It gives patients a way to continuously measure and record their body temperature and also reminds them to do so.

“Our technology and mobile app are proving their worth in enabling Sheba to remotely monitor people having recently returned from Asia and Japan, keeping both patients and hospital staff as safe as possible from unnecessary exposure,” said Uri Bettesh, Founder and CEO of Datos.