Project Pitlane: How Formula One Engineers Are Developing New Technology for Hospitals
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many manufacturers around the world to shift their focus of production. Anyone with the resources to develop and produce pandemic aids - most notably things like personal protective equipment (PPE) - have done so without hesitation. One initiative centred around this push that has made waves in the sporting world is Project Pitlane.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula One launched Project Pitlane in an effort to support key health services during what has been an unprecedented time. Created in March of 2020, the initiative encourages Formula One teams and their engineers to put their resources together to provide supplies and solutions in the fight against COVID-19. One invention that’s come about thanks to this project has been a new device that helps doctors and nurses communicate while they are wearing PPE.
It has become common practice for any medical staff who are treating COVID-19 patients to wear PPE, but a challenge that many staff has noticed is that communication is often difficult. Due to the abundance of equipment they wear, speaking to each other clearly has not been easy, thus increasing the risk of miscommunication that could lead to mistakes that harm patients.
To remedy this, a new device has been developed by staff at the University of Leicester in England in tandem with Formula One racing engineers with the Alpine F1 Team. This device, dubbed the MedicCom, uses a microphone that allows patients to accurately hear the medical staff caring for them when they speak. The device also helps doctors and nurses hear each other despite wearing their protective headgear. A Bluetooth connection even allows doctors or nurses to have telephone calls with relatives of the patients they are caring for.
Other Formula One teams have helped in the fight against COVID-19 in different ways, such as opening up their factories to help with the production of breathing apparatuses for hospitals. One of these teams is Mercedes, who have used their engine factory to make 1,000 CPAP devices per day for the NHS. Williams Racing have also joined the fight, with their engineers helping to create prototype parts for new ventilators with assistance from other racing teams and organizations such as McLaren, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, and BAE Systems.
In such a trying time, it’s been great to see so many sporting competitors put their rivalries aside for the greater good. They have drawn on their collective resources and expertise to not only help solve medical engineering challenges on their own, but to also help other organizations in the medical industry during this global crisis with their own efforts. Here’s hoping that it leads to continued research and development that will help save lives for months and years to come.