March 31, 2020
THE VENTILATOR GURU
At home in Salt Lake City earlier this month, Tyler Vermey got an urgent weekend call from his boss. Some 1,400 miles away in Madison, Wisconsin, a GE Healthcare factory was gearing up to increase its production of ventilators, a crucial tool in the fight against COVID-19. Vermey’s help was being sought: He has such a formidable knowledge of ventilator valves — a key part of the machine — that he’s been called the valve guru. Some 100 extra workers and volunteers have flocked to the Madison plant in recent weeks. When Vermey got the call, he knew he would join them.
The long haul: He, his wife, Krista, and their dog, Bruno, piled into the car and drove those 1,400 miles to aid in the fight, encountering an earthquake before the trip and a blizzard along the way — but finally made it to Wisconsin three days later. Now Vermey, who normally works on X-ray machines for GE Healthcare in Utah, is back in his old stomping grounds. He’s sharing his skills with colleagues who’ve come together for a common cause, acting as a teacher, quality-control expert and all-around troubleshooter. “This is definitely a marathon and not a sprint,” he said. “So I am trying to make sure I transfer my knowledge as best I can.”
Learn more here about the Madison plant’s round-the-clock effort to build ventilators for COVID-19 patients.
A PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES
Last week, GE Healthcare and Ford announced plans to work together to meet an urgent need of the COVID-19 pandemic: ventilator production. This week, the two companies announced a second step in the collaboration: GE Healthcare will provide clinical expertise and license an existing, simplified ventilator design from Airon Corporation, which has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is responsive to the needs of most COVID-19 patients. Ford will ramp up production of the design with the United Auto Workers at a plant in Michigan, with a target to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days, and 30,000 a month thereafter, as needed.
Rising to the challenge: The collaboration complements work that GE Healthcare — and many of its industrial peers — is already doing to help meet the global shortage of ventilators. As mentioned above, GE has shifted to round-the-clock production in Wisconsin. Having doubled its capacity of ventilator production, the company plans to double it again by the middle of 2020, independent of the Ford partnership. “We applaud Ford for its efforts to lend its manufacturing capabilities to help quickly scale the Airon-licensed Model A-E ventilator and arm clinicians in the fight against COVID-19,” said GE Healthcare President and CEO Kieran Murphy. “Our deep understanding of the healthcare industry with Ford’s supply chain and production expertise will help meet the unprecedented demand for medical equipment. We continue to be encouraged by how quickly companies are coming together in innovative ways to address this collective challenge.”
RAY OF LIGHT
In the hospital, ultrasound imaging technology is most often encountered by expectant parents getting the first glimpse of their baby in utero. But in the time of coronavirus, it’s stepped in to fill an important new role: Ultrasound can also help medical professionals spot the tell-tale lesions that COVID-19 leaves in the lungs, adding diagnostic speed and helping doctors get a handle on potential complications. “In an ideal setting, CT is the imaging method of choice for COVID-19,” said Mathias Goyen, chief medical officer for GE Healthcare in Europe. “But we don’t have an ideal setting — we’re dealing with an overflow of patients as part of a pandemic.”
A clearer picture: Ultrasound machines see inside the body by emitting and recording the echoes of high-frequency soundwaves, displayed as grayscale images. Doctors using the technology nowadays are also gaining new insights with the use of artificial intelligence. After being trained on hundreds of thousands of images, AI algorithms can detect subtle irregularities and giveaway patterns in ultrasound scans, helping clinicians quickly grasp the extent of infection. It’s beneficial in other ways too: The machines are portable and, without a lot of nooks and crannies, can be disinfected quickly. “It has been underestimated, the power of ultrasound in the intensive care unit,” said Antonio Spera, general manager of GE Healthcare in Italy. “It’s now exploding.”
Learn more here about ultrasound’s role on the front lines.
REMOTE CONTROL
Last week, Massachusetts joined states and municipalities across the country by closing all businesses deemed nonessential and encouraged folks to stay home and suppress the spread of the coronavirus. Because somebody’s got to keep the lights on and the water running, water workers in Haverhill, a city north of Boston — among many other crucial employees — were exempted from the order. Even so, they were ready, says John D’Aoust, Haverhill’s water treatment plant manager. Not only can they operate the facility remotely, D’Aoust and his colleagues have plenty of practice: They’ve been using a form of remote digital access for 13 years.
Streaming on demand: The plant can operate overnight with just one worker on-site, with backup assistance just a few clicks away — if need be, the remaining operations staff can fire up their laptops or tablets and securely connect to the system. Haverhill pulls its water from two reservoirs into Kenoza Lake, where the plant runs it through a series of treatments, including purification and fluoridation, before delivering it to customers. An automation system from GE Digital allows the water department to control every step of the process. “If you put all the proper plans in place, and you have the right hardware to enable the necessary security, you can do this safely and securely,” D’Aoust said.
As more employees work from home, learn more here about how software can enable the transition.
WAYS THE WORLD ? FOUGHT BACK
1. Blood Simple
The British government is evaluating “finger prick tests” for coronavirus antibodies that could be taken at home and return results in 15 minutes.
2. Supercharging Drug Development
Researchers searching for small-molecule drug compounds that could work against the virus enlisted the help of a powerful ally: Summit, the world’s fastest and most powerful supercomputer.
3. Low-Cost Ventilator
A decade ago, a class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a simple ventilator that could be built quickly for about $100. As the world faces a ventilator shortage, another MIT team is reviving those plans.
Click here for more promising developments in global health.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“We’ve got engineers, product workers from different factories, retired people, materials specialists, shop supervisors. It’s phenomenal to see [these] men and women coming together like this.”
— Mark Goyette, general manager of Life Care Solutions at GE Healthcare
Quote: GE Reports. Image: GE Healthcare.
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