IIT vs COVID-19

IIT4 PUBLIC HEALTH, CORONA VIRUS EMERGENCY

Following the emergency that has stricken Italy, Europe and the world, IIT has decided to share openly its scientific and technical know-how to help develop ideas and solutions in the battle against COVID-19.

Strictly speaking, virology is not part of our scientific plan. However, we believe that our skills can be readily deployed to solve real and immediate problems. We are good at engineering, molecular simulations, predictive models, artificial intelligence, smart materials, robotics and genetics (See our Research Domains).

Despite the necessary measures to prevent contagion, which limit people’s mobility and access to laboratories, we are “smartly working” on several projects with a clear short-term focus. Here are some of the projects we are involved in:

COVID-19 Projects

Projects

The following projects have been developed by our institute

Artificial Intelligence

We are using computer vision and machine learning to improve and simplify automatic temperature checks, social distancing and radiomics for covid-19 prognosis.

Projects:

AI Thermometer

Social Distancing

Radiomics for COVID19

Personal Protective Equipment

We are designing reusable, easily disinfectable protective masks from off-the-shelf full face masks

Projects:

Seac Protective Mask

Cressi Protective Mask

Cressi Face Ventilation Mask

Molecular simulation

We have examined a series of molecular targets for COVID-19 and performed in silico screening of a database containing more than 3,000 FDA-authorized drugs. The goal of this project is to be able to carry out drug repositioning (a much faster process compared to new drug development)

Robotics

We are working on a telepresence robot avatar, which can be assembled with off-the-shelf hardware; a social distancing bracelet to keep safe distance between people and a lung respirator for emergency situations (data shared on the DIH-HERO network). We are also creating 3D-printed components for respirators such as splitters, mask and flowmeters.