New ventilator device developed

UK experts have designed a new type of ventilator that may allow more patients with severe Covid-19 to be treated outside of intensive care.

The researchers said that their device, known as exovent, is more comfortable for the patient, cheaper than those currently being used in intensive care units, and requires fewer staffing resources to manage it.

Exovent is a negative pressure ventilator – which means it works by lowering the pressure outside the body to allow lung tissue to expand and function in a way that resembles normal breathing. The new device works differently from the conventional positive pressure ventilators which, instead, push air into the lungs.

Patients do not need to be sedated and can take food and medication by mouth, as well as talk to loved ones on the phone when using the new device, the developers of exovent added.

Ian Joesbury, the chief executive of exovent, said: “We are really excited to be unveiling this life-saving system which is a cutting-edge reinvention of pre-existing technology.

“As the patient does not need to be sedated, it opens up alternative treatment options that may allow more patients with Covid-19 to be treated outside of intensive care.”