Galway medtech sector designs ventilator which can treat two patients at once

Researchers in Galway have designed a ventilator that would allow two people be treated at once.

A new system of splitting ventilators between two patients which can be adjusted for each individual has been designed by clinicians and medical technologists in Galway.

Galway is a medtech hub, where about half of the world’s ventilators are produced, and the new system will halve the number of ventilators required in intensive care settings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

By safely splitting ventilators between patients, the system aims to alleviate the pressure on resources and on medical teams who may be forced to make difficult choices due to shortage of equipment.

Designed by the Inspire team, based at NUI Galway (NUIG), the new system is being made available to health services globally on the website www.galwayventshare.com.

It can be replicated using medically approved ventilator equipment that already exists in most hospitals, according to the team.

The scientists say it allows for delivery of the correct lung volume, based on each patient’s requirements and this can be adjusted as necessary.

The amount delivered can be verified through a tablet connected to the ventilator, giving more confidence to the clinicians through individual patient monitoring, they state.

The ability to adjust the equipment is said to be particularly effective for people with lung disease or respiratory illness.

“The idea of using a ventilator to ventilate the lungs of two patients is very much a last resort.,”Prof John Laffey, professor of anaesthesia at NUIG’s school of medicine, explained.

“Unfortunately, we have heard some reports of intensive care colleagues in other countries in the tragic situation of having to choose which one of two COVID-19 patients to offer ventilator support to,” he said.

“This innovation will change that decision from one of having to decide which patient to provide this life supporting technology to allowing one to provide ventilatory support to both patients, buying time to allow one source additional ventilators,”he said.

“This solution developed in Galway is an important advance over others because it allows one to control key ventilatory parameters for each patient separately, which is really important for a severe lung disease like Covid-19, and it monitors each patient separately,”Prof Laffey said.

The Inspire team comprises alumni of the NUIG BioInnovate medical device training programme who work throughout the medtech hub in Galway.

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