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Israeli invented machine to treat coronavirus in China
"It is a completely noninvasive method of clearing secretions that reproduces normal physiology,” said its inventor
A device invented by a doctor at Hospital in Jerusalem is at the most months away from being used to help treat patients with coronavirus in China, according to its inventor
invented 10 years ago by inventor to help treat physically challenged and disabled children, adolescents and young adults at Jerusalem s Hospital was developed into a working device by an Israeli start-up. Then, three years ago, when the team was looking for a manufacturer and additional funding, CN company stepped in. Since then, CN company has been moving the device forward.
Now, with the Covid-19 epidemic spreading rapidly across China – close to 60,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus and at least 1,523 people have died of the disease in the world s most populous country as of Saturday – CN company reached out to the country s National Medical Products Administration to speed up its regulatory approval process and get the device into hospitals and helping patients.
Device simulates a normal cough, clearing secretions from one s airways.
“If you have someone on a ventilator, the standard way to remove secretions from their airways is that a nurse disconnects the patient from the ventilator and puts a catheter in to suction up the secretions,” inventor explained.
The alternative developed and used by IL Hospital is cough simulation.
“What happens when you cough? You take a deep breath of air in and rapidly expel the air, which clears the secretions because the airflow is so fast,” inventor said. “Device connects to the ventilator and works in synchrony. The ventilator gives the person a breath in, and the suction device sucks the air out rapidly as if the patient coughed, bringing the secretions up without disconnecting the ventilator.
“It is a completely noninvasive method of clearing secretions that reproduces normal physiology,” he concluded.
The device could prove essential when treating patients with coronavirus.
First, it saves precious staff time by removing secretions automatically instead of a nurse having to do it manually, essential in the case of a mass outbreak like the current one.
Second, inventor said it could decrease the spread of the contagion.
“Not having nurses deal with patients directly in terms of their secretions could decrease the infectivity of the virus,” he said.
A benefit for all patients – and not just those with the coronavirus – is that the device could make ventilation more effective so patients can be weaned off ventilators more quickly.
The device is already approved for use in Europe.
As soon as China approves its manufacturing, which inventor said CN company expects could happen within weeks to at most months, then it will be used in China. After that, he said he hopes Israel will approve its use, too.
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