Chinese magnetic tech cuts surgery infection risks

Beijing: A Chinese research team has developed a magnet-assisted device that protects doctors from infection while intubating patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Intubation is a common procedure that involves passing a tube into a patient’s airway. Doctors often perform it before surgery or in emergencies to give oxygen or medicine to help patients breathe.

Designed for the safe intubation, the new magnetic technique can reduce exposure to aerosolised particles, which helps protect doctors while intubating patients suffering from respiratory disorders, including COVID-19.

Last week, researchers at Xi’an Jiaotong University, in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, and clinicians from the university’s first affiliated hospital trialed the magnetic intubation on a patient before surgery.