On June 30, 2021 a signing ceremony for a licensing agreement of the ‘PETE’ Patient Isolation and Transportation Chamber between the National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) and Suprera Innovation Co., Ltd. was held at Thailand Science Park, Pathumthani. The event was presided over by Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul, Director of MTEC, Dr. Pairoj Boonsirikhamchai, Deputy Secretary General of the National Institute for Emergency Medicine, Mr. Krai Kanchanawatee, Managing Director of Suprera Innovation Co., Ltd., Mrs. Kullaprapa Navanugraha, Vice President of NSTDA, and Dr. Sarawut Lerspalungsanti, Research Team Leader of Design and Industry Solutions Research Team, Engineering Design and Computation Research Group of MTEC.
Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul said that the Design and Industry Solutions Research Team of the Engineering Design and Computation Research Group of MTEC had developed the PETE by designing the capsule part that is metal-free, safe, and strong. The PETE chamber will help reduce the chance of the spread of infection and can be put into an X-ray machine and a CT scanner since it does not contain any metal part; therefore, patients are not required to be moved out of the chamber as compared to other devices. Furthermore, the PETE chamber is lightweight and can be used to transfer patients from place to place in a efficient manner. On this day, MTEC had held a signing ceremony with Suprera Innovation Co., Ltd., as the first and sole company, for a licensing agreement of the PETE.
The company had received technology transfer from research to commercial production. This process, therefore, is considered to be critical for research results to create value for the country’s economy and society and conforms to MTEC’s mission, which aims to apply science and technology to develop innovations with signitficat impacts. Furthermore, MTEC and Suprera Innovation Co., Ltd., had delivered 1 set of the ‘PETE’ Patient Isolation and Transportation Chamber to the National Institute for Emergency Medicine. The outbreak of COVID-19 reveals the severity of the disease caused by respiratory tract infections. On the contrary, there is a limited number of medical personnel who are on the front line to fight against the disease, thus safety is an important issue during the operation. The MTEC’s PETE not only help ease the process of the COVID-19 patients transfer but also lower the expense since it is three times cheaper than similar devices imported. The PETE was developed using scientific knowledge, technology and expertise to enhance the capabilities of the medical device industry, which is considered to be a new target industry (New S-Curve) of the government.
Mr. Krai Kanchanawatee, Managing Director of Suprera Innovation Co., Ltd., remarked that the company was honored to join this signing ceremony and to be the sole manufacturer and distributor. The company had received the technology transfer with its 30-year experience in providing medical device services, emergency vehicles, e.g., ambulances to hospitals throughout the country. Therefore, the company is ready to provide services to medical personnel all over the country, as well as to further develop products from Thai research conforming to international standards.
The company realized that MTEC has been working hard on the development of the PETE, by collecting information and comments from the users and solving the problems found in existing products. The research team had developed its unique design and cleaning methods, as well as the use of domestic spare parts and materials to be able to work with ambulances and put into the CT scanner. For the production and distribution plan, the company would like to be a part of the Thai community that develop in-house medical devices that meet international standards with an affordable price and reasonable maintenance costs, thus supportting Thai research and reducing dependence on medical devices from abroad. During the on-going COVID-19 outbreak, the developed PETE, has shown that Thailand can rely on itself in terms of medical equipment, which is considered to be the most sustainable and secure path to take.
Dr. Pairoj Boonsirikhamchai, Deputy Secretary General of the National Institute for Emergency Medicine, mentioned that the National Institute for Emergency Medicine is delighted to receive the PETE to support the medical personnel and emergency medical personnel for transferring patients during this pandemic. The National Institute for Emergency Medicine, the National Health Security Office (NHSO), and the Medical Service Department (Erawan, Bangkok) have performed operations in transferring the COVID-19 patients from their homes to various field hospitals starting from April 19 to June 19, 2021, totaling over 7,500 patients transferred and 139 operational teams. In addition, the hospitals that received the most COVID-19 cases were Busaraham hospital with more than 2,000 cases, followed by Wattana Factory field hospital with 900 cases, Bangkok Cha-Da hotel with 700 cases, and Nimitbutr Center with approximately 600 cases. In the process of transferring patients, apart from having medical personnel with expertise and ambulances with life-saving equipment as stated in the international standards, the PETE is also necessary equipment since it can be used to readily transfer patients from place to place, e.g., an emergency room or a CT scanner. The device can also help reduce the chance of the spread of infection to the medical personnel and other people in the hospital, as well as minimize the time and cost of cleaning equipment.
In the future, if the PETE units are distributed widely, e.g., using with the ambulances for transferring patients from place to place or within the hospitals, they will efficiently assist the existing emergency operating system.
