As hospitals face an overload of COVID-19 patients struggling to breathe, innovative medical staff are turning to snorkelling masks from sports stores to stop their lungs collapsing. The idea started in Italy, the European country worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with hospitals in other nations
1 / 4A medical worker tests a Decathlon snorkeling mask, with a 3D-printed respiratory valve fitting attached, at the Erasme Hospital in BrusselsA medical worker tests a Decathlon snorkeling mask, with a 3D-printed respiratory valve fitting attached, at the Erasme Hospital in Brussels Brussels - As hospitals face an overload of COVID-19 patients struggling to breathe, innovative medical staff are turning to snorkelling masks from sports stores to stop their lungs collapsing.
One such is the Erasme Hospital on the outskirts of Belgium's capital Brussels. It is attached to the city's ULB university -- and through it to a private spin-off, Endo Tools Therapeutics, whose knowhow in 3D printing for medical use has proved invaluable. He spearheaded the design of a custom-made valve that fits to the top of full-face masks, where the snorkel is meant to go, allowing them to connect to standard BiPAP machines that feed pressurised air into masks.
Story continuesHe explained they were far more comfortable than the hospital ones that fit over the nose and mouth, biting into the skin. But he cautioned they were not tested to medical standards, meaning they were one-use only, unable to be sterilised between patients."It seemed fairly complicated to make, pretty heavy, not very comfortable. So we had the idea to go a little further by thinking on it and developing our own connection part," he said.
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