COVID-19 NEWS
Patients on a plane
Airliners proposed for Covid-19 therapy
JASON FORD reports
Grounded aircraft could
be transformed into
potentially life-saving
hyperbaric oxygen
chambers to treat COVID-19
patients with airport departure
lounges used as wards.
This is the vision of Lungfish
Dive Systems, life-support
system experts in Cambridge
who are working with healthcare
organisations and aerospace
companies to explore the
possibility of using commercial
airliners as makeshift Hyperbaric
oxygen therapy (HBOT) chambers.
HBOT - breathing oxygen
under pressure – has the potential
The iron lung has been reimagined by
a multidisciplinary team to potentially
give the NHS an alternative model of
ventilator to treat Covid-19 patients (See
Archive, page 36).
Dubbed exovent, the Negative
Pressure Ventilator (NPV) is non-invasive,
so patients won’t need to undergo
to prevent patients deteriorating
to the level where they require
ventilation. It is standard
treatment for many diseases
where hypoxia is a factor, but a
shortage of HBOT chambers has
been perceived as a barrier to
adoption for COVID-19.
Makeshift HBOT chambers
can be pressurised to the required
levels for potentially effective
treatment – approximately 1.6
times atmospheric pressure.
Company founder Dr Daniel
Reynolds told The Engineer that
the most significant work to an
aircraft would involve adjustments
to various control systems and
May 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk 8
A semi-autonomous robot that quickly
disinfects large surfaces is being
prepared for public trials to support
Singapore’s COVID-19 response.
Developed by researchers from
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore (NTU Singapore) the
eXtreme Disinfection roBOT (XDBOT)
can be wirelessly controlled via a
laptop or tablet.
Comprising a semi-autonomous
control unit with motorised wheels,
XDBOT has a 6-axis robotic arm that
mimics human movement to access
awkward locations.
Instead of a conventional
pressure-spray nozzle, it uses an
electrostatic-charged nozzle to
ensure a wider and further spread of
disinfectant, behind and over hidden
surfaces.
The nozzle discharges chemicals
with a positive electrical charge.
These disinfectants will then be
attracted to all negatively-charged
surfaces. Surfaces already covered
with the disinfectant will then repel
the spray, making this method very
efficient, it is claimed.
XDBOT navigates semiautonomously
using LIDAR and
high-definition cameras and can be
controlled with a laptop or tablet. JF
Read more at
www.theengineer.co.uk
EXOVENT IRON LUNG CONCEPT
OFFERS ALTERNATIVE TO COVID-19
VENTILATORS
settings to enable the cabin to be
pressurised whilst on the ground.
“Normally the aircraft are
automatically depressurised on
the ground to make sure there is
no differential pressure that would
interfere with the doors being
opened,” he said. “These systems
will have to be reconfigured.
“Different aircraft also use
different means of pressurisation.
For instance, it would be best to
use aircraft that have their own
compressor rather than running
from engine bleed-air. Depending
on the aircraft used, it might be
necessary to provide compressed
air from an external source.”
He added that pending clinical
trial results, the treatment
would probably be performed
in 90-minute cycles, between
which times the aircraft would be
depressurised, enabling people
and equipment to be moved in and
out as needed.
“The medical staff would be
well advised to breathe oxygen
as well during the cycles of
compression, to avoid becoming
saturated with nitrogen over
time,” Reynolds said. “However,
in the case of COVID treatment,
they would likely be wearing
respirators anyway for safety
reasons, so this would not be too
different from current practice.”
A clinical trial of HBOT under
conditions achievable in an
aircraft is due to start involving
patients at a hospital in Canada.
XDBOT SET FOR
COVID-19 CLEANING
DUTIES IN SINGAPORE
JASON FORD reports
windpipe intubation.
“This device is cheap, simple and it
will work,” said Sir John Burn, professor
of Clinical Genetics at Newcastle
University. “I am convinced it provides a
real alternative and is worthy of support.”
Marshall Aerospace & Defence Group
said it is exploring technical aspects
ahead of rapid production and roll-out of
the NPV, which is supported by WMG at
the University of Warwick, Imperial NHS
Trust and The Royal National Throat Nose
and Ear hospital. Two intensive care units
will trial the prototype ventilators, which
have a small number of moving parts.
In use, the device fits over the
patient’s torso and takes over their
breathing through gentle and repeating
pressure. It is claimed to increase the
heart’s efficiency by up to 25 per cent
compared to conventional ventilators
which squeeze the chest, potentially
reducing cardiac function.
Furthermore, exovent is less likely
to cause a pneumothorax (burst
lung) as negative pressure ventilation
produces less micro-trauma to the
lung, and it does not require medicalgrade
compressed gases, which are at
risk of shortage in the NHS due to heavy
levels of demand for oxygen.
/www.theengineer.co.uk
/www.theengineer.co.uk