New Technologies Created in 2020 to Fight COVID-19
2020年创造的抗击新冠肺炎的新技术
The COVID-19 pandemic affected many industries across the world in 2020. Many companies faced severe economic difficulties related to the worldwide spread of the new coronavirus. But, some were able to develop new technologies to help fight the disease in an effort to improve people's lives.
One of the first companies we reported on related to the pandemic developed a 3D printer to quickly produce oxygen valves to treat COVID-19 patients.
我们报道的首批新冠疫情相关公司之一开发了一种3D打印机，可以快速生产氧气阀，用于治疗新冠肺炎患者。
The new Italian company Isinnova found a way to use its 3D printing equipment to copy the medical devices. Valves are used to connect oxygen to patientssuffering frombreathing problems. The company produced the life-saving equipmentfor freeafter it learned many Italian hospitals faced a serious shortage of valves.
The CodeTheCurve "hackathon" for young people led to several possible new ways to deal with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The event's organizers included the United Nations, American technology company IBM and European software business SAP.
年轻人参加的Code The Curve黑客马拉松为应对由新型冠状病毒引起的新冠肺炎提供了几种可能的新方法。此次活动的组织者包括联合国、美国科技公司IBM和欧洲软件企业SAP。
One of the winning teams created a system that uses machine learning and picture technology to examine chest X-rays to identify the most severe COVID-19 patients. Another team developed an app that uses virtual reality to let users explore different places around the world while exercising from home.
Several companies studied the effectiveness of wearable devices to identify early signs of COVID-19.
一些公司研究了可穿戴设备识别新冠肺炎早期症状的有效性。
Researchers at America's West Virginia University reported in May a device they tested was able to identify COVID-19 signs up to three days before people started to experience them.
Another research project, carried out by the California-based Scripps Research Institute, examined data from devices worn by more than 30,000 volunteers. Researchers said their early results showed the devices could successfully identify people who had no signs of COVID-19 but were still infectious.
A Japanese company created a "smart" mask that aims to improve communication for people wearing face coverings. Donut Robotics calls its invention the "c-mask." It is meant to fit over other kinds of face masks commonly worn by the public.
The maskis made ofsoft plastic material and contains a built-in microphone. When it is turned on, the mask uses Bluetooth technology to connect to a mobile device.
口罩由软塑料材料制成，内置麦克风。麦克风打开时，口罩使用蓝牙技术连接到移动设备。
An app then helps users perform several actions, including turning speech into written text, completing telephone calls and making the user's voice louder. The device can alsotranslatea person's voice from Japaneseintoeight other languages.
Researchers reported success with machine learning systems designed to identify COVID-19 cases by the sounds of a person's cough. Machine learning describes computer technology that improves itself through a process similar to human learning.
One study, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), showed a high success rate in identifying COVID-19 in people who had no physical signs of the disease.
A team at Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University has used similar methods to develop a "voice-based testing system for COVID-19." That system uses recordings of coughs — as well as some vowel sounds and the alphabet — to identify "signatures" of the disease.
Apple and Google cooperated to launch a mobile phone tool to follow the contacts of people infected with coronavirus. The technology became the basis for apps developed by U.S. states and several nations to carry out contact tracing.
The system operates with Bluetooth wireless technology, which permits devices near each other to exchange information and create a record. If a device user becomes infected with the virus and agrees to share that information, the record is used to inform other people that they also might have been infected.
