Scottish company behind technology for mass Covid-19 screening

July 6, 2020 2:01 pm

A Scottish company has developed a track and trace system which they claim is fast and accurate.

The system uses facial recognition and thermal imaging to determine those with high temperatures and infection.

This will allow mass screening in areas where there are many people such as airports, shopping malls, train stations and sporting arenas. It is able to scan 30 people per second and will indicate the people who may be at higher risk of the virus.

CEO of the technology specialist Purview Services who developed the system with £400,000 of investment, is himself a survivor of Covid-19 which was diagnosed on a business trip to India. Currently unable to return to Scotland, Reddy has used the time there to develop the technology and it has been trialled at various places in the country. The technology is being used at Secunderabad Railway Station which is a busy commuter rail hub, and also at hospitals and hotels.

Reddy Punna commented: “Immediate protection from The Covid-19 pandemic requires compliance with test, trace isolate and protection strategies and we’ve done this through the development of our optical attendance and access system. The facial recognition and thermal imaging system can detect people’s temperature, the presence of a face mask and social distancing as they walk past the scanning technology at a rate of up to 30 per second and within a range field depth of 9 metres.

Those entering any venue with a raised temperature can be identified and then diverted to be helped by officials to stop any potential spread of Covid-19. Containment through an attendance and access system with zero contact and temperature measurement can be a key to avoiding easy spread of the virus that can take place with a biometric access system.”

If there is a temperature alert on the system, a person can be re-checked with handheld thermal imaging. The reading can then be conveyed to the individual and they would then be advised to return home. The reading can also trigger the tracing process to find who the identified person has been in contact with.

The strategy is to have free flowing footfall with access control to both routes allowing people to move without congestion and being hampered by unnecessary delay.