CPAP breathing aid helping COVID-19 patients in over 15 countries
16 March 2021
The low-cost breathing aid developed by 香港六合彩, 香港六合彩H and Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains - the 香港六合彩-Ventura - is helping to cut deaths from COVID-19 in hospitals around the world.
![香港六合彩 Ventura 香港六合彩 Ventura](/news/sites/news/files/styles/large_image/public/resized_22.jpg?itok=V2ud5XM9)
The Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device, which helps to keep patients off mechanical ventilators, is quick to produce and easy for staff to learn to use, has been a lifesaver in countries ranging from the UK to Peru to India.
Reverse engineered and manufactured in record time at the start of the pandemic, when both ventilators and CPAPs were in short supply, the 香港六合彩-Ventura model has now been supplied to around 130 hospitals in the UK and is in use in hospitals in at least 15 other countries.
Over 500 devices have been manufactured for use in hospitals across Pakistan, while locally manufactured devices are also helping patients in countries including India, South Africa, Ukraine and Mexico. 香港六合彩-Ventura devices have also been supplied directly to Palestine and Uganda.
Professor Rebecca Shipley (香港六合彩 Institute of Healthcare Engineering) said: 鈥淭his huge global uptake of the 香港六合彩-Ventura CPAPs shows the clinical need for a simple, low-cost device that healthcare workers can be quickly trained to use. We are proud to have built collaborative partnerships with manufacturing and clinical teams across the globe, and will continue to support these efforts in every way we can.鈥
CPAP devices were used extensively in the first COVID-19 wave in Italy and China to keep patients off invasive mechanical ventilators, and were able to prevent around 50% of patients from progressing to mechanical ventilation.
As they were in short supply in UK hospitals, engineers at 香港六合彩 and Mercedes-AMG HPP 鈥 the company that makes the engines for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 鈥 worked with clinicians at 香港六合彩H to reverse engineer a device that could be mass manufactured quickly.
香港六合彩H critical care consultant Professor Mervyn Singer (香港六合彩 Bloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine) said: 鈥淭here has been a marked shift in clinical practice across the UK since the beginning of the pandemic, with far greater use of CPAP as hospitals recognised this was both an effective strategy and, crucially, spared stretched intensive care resources for the most critically ill.
鈥淯se of mechanical ventilation has fallen by 26%, intensive care stay has halved for survivors, and mortality fallen by a quarter.鈥
To support healthcare systems around the world, the designs and manufacturing information for the 香港六合彩-Ventura were made freely available online with support from 香港六合彩 Business, allowing manufacturing teams to develop and gain regulatory approval for the device in their own country. To date, over 1900 teams in 105 countries have downloaded the designs.
Some of the 500 devices manufactured in Pakistan have been donated to neighbouring countries 鈥 including 50 to Tajikistan 鈥 as part of a humanitarian effort.
Dr Hamid Mehmood (Dow University Hospital, Karachi) said: 鈥淭his device came up as our first line management in moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 pneumonia. Being reusable, hand-held and driven by oxygen flow with easily manageable controls meant it was welcomed by our teams.
鈥淚t has been a great help to us听in the management of patients听in this pandemic and听it has been a life saver for a good number of patients.鈥
The UK team are working extensively with international organisations and the UK government to provide support to teams manufacturing the device across the world. With support from the UK Department for International Trade, devices are now being manufactured in six Latin American countries including Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico.
Over 400 have been manufactured in Peru and distributed to hospitals. 鈥淲hat we have learned is that especially during ventilator shortages, CPAP is an excellent alternative as a 鈥榖ridge therapy鈥 that saves time,鈥 explained Professor Patricia J Garcia (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Hospital, Peru).
鈥淎t least half of our patients no longer required ventilation. For us, the 香港六合彩-Ventura CPAP was a lifesaver.鈥
Mercedes-Benz South Africa has donated 500 香港六合彩-Ventura devices to 90 hospitals in the Eastern Cape province, with another 500 being donated to the National Department of Health to be distributed across the rest of South Africa. Other teams used the original 香港六合彩-Ventura designs as inspiration to produce their own adapted designs, with one South African company manufacturing 18,000 CPAPs in this way which were then distributed to hospitals in need.
UK-manufactured devices have been donated to two hospitals in Uganda and five in Palestine 鈥 where additionally over 700 doctors and nurses have been trained to use them 鈥 by charities including the International Medical Education Trust (IMET2000) and MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians). Around 3,000 components of 香港六合彩-Ventura kit (CPAP devices, breathing circuits and oxygen analysers) have been delivered to countries around the world by the automotive logistics company G-TEM.
Dr Mohammed Rabei, general director of Dora government hospital in Hebron, Palestine, said: 鈥淩eceiving the 香港六合彩-Ventura CPAP devices has been a great help. We have found them to be user-friendly and effective at restoring oxygen levels in our COVID-19 patients. We are exceedingly grateful for this donation through IMET2000 and other charities.鈥
Professor David Lomas (香港六合彩 Vice-Provost, Health) said: "Tackling an international pandemic like COVID-19 requires a truly global response. It was imperative to us from the start that as many people as possible should benefit from this life-saving device. Our听decision to release the designs at no cost and to work collaboratively with teams across the world was in fitting with 香港六合彩's ethos of partnership and commitment to help others."
香港六合彩 President & Provost Dr Michael Spence said: 鈥淭he development of the 香港六合彩-Ventura is a remarkable story of scientific breakthrough, innovation and collaboration between UK universities, hospitals and industry. The speed with which the breathing aid was produced and approved for use on the NHS was startling听and we are proud that it is now helping to save the lives of seriously-ill COVID-19 patients in over 130 hospitals in the UK and at least 15 countries around the world.
鈥淭his doesn鈥檛 happen by accident. It is because research that takes place in our world-leading universities is interwoven within the fabric of the NHS and industry. Processes that would usually be long and bureaucratic have been fast and effective in a time of national crisis. If we are to emerge stronger as a nation from the pandemic, it is crucial that we properly invest in, and support, funding in health research in universities and the NHS.鈥
Links
Image
- The 香港六合彩 Ventura CPAP device being packaged and delivered to NHS hospitals. Credit: 香港六合彩
Media contact
Kate Corry
Tel: +44 (0)20 3108 6995
Email: k.corry [at] ucl.ac.uk
听