Current Covid-19 news

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an innovative x-ray method for lung diagnostics, which they now plan to test in one of its first applications for diagnosis of the respiratory ailment Covid-19 caused by Coronavirus. The method could clearly identify abnormalities typical of the illness and involves a significantly lower radiation dose than the computed tomography methods currently in use. Last week, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) issued the approval necessary for the tests.

Currently, the corona pandemic is dominating the entire social life in Germany and in many other parts of the world. We are working flat out in order to better help the more than one hundred thousand seriously ill people in hospitals. One promising approach to extending current treatment methods is to use existing and approved drugs to combat the virus.

In the fight against Covid-19, an interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a model for a contact tracing app that protects personal data. The concept is based on an encryption process that prevents the temporary contact numbers (TCNs) of infected individuals from ending up on the phones of their contacts. A prototype is now undergoing testing in cooperation with the ITO Open Source Consortium. The app has also successfully completed the Bluetooth Special Interest Group qualification process.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has started its summer semester, which will take place primarily online due to the coronavirus pandemic. At very short notice, TUM has drastically expanded its digital curriculum so that all students can continue their learning activities without interruption. TUM Partners of Excellence and private individuals are supporting TUM in the ongoing development of digital teaching and testing formats as well as in speeding the creation of virtual laboratories.

The use of mechanical ventilation can save lives – and not just for COVID-19 patients who develop severe respiratory problems. But at the same time, the ventilation pressure puts immense stress on delicate lung tissue. Especially for patients with preexisting lung damage, the use of ventilators can prove deadly. A computational lung model that’s been developed by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) can be used to reduce damage caused by mechanical ventilation – and could increase survival rates for patients significantly.

A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) plans to use high-tech biometric sensors for 24-hour monitoring of COVID-19 patients in home isolation. The goal of the study is to find out whether rapid treatment in response to deteriorating vital signs can improve the chance of survival and ease the workload of intensive care units. The study got off to a quick start thanks to donations.

One of the largest antibody studies against SARS-CoV-2 in Germany has begun at the university hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar at Technical University of Munich (TUM). The employee study is intended to provide data on the stability of antibodies over two years and thereby help in identifying starting points for the further improvement of protective measures for both employees and patients.

The TUM Board of Management has decided, until further notice and in accordance with the most recent directives of the Bavarian state government, to largely maintain the existing restrictions regarding physical contact and to gradually resume on-site operations under observance of essential preventive measures. This means that the severely restricted operations currently in place will end on 20 April 2020.

The weapons deployed in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic also include artificial intelligence. AI might be able to recognize patterns in the spread of the disease, for example. These new possibilities raise ethical issues, however. Christoph Lütge holds the Chair of Business Ethics and is the director of the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). He has joined colleagues from other respected universities and research institutions to establish the Global AI Ethics Consortium.

With an old Scottish folk song in an arrangement by Ludwig van Beethoven, the TUM choir sends a signal of solidarity in a time when when we all are alone together. "In this way we want to give all friends of the Technical University of Munich, wherever they may be, a feeling of closeness and togetherness,” says Thomas F. Hofmann, President of TUM. “The boundless commitment of the many people who make our university a family fills me with pride.”