Resource management and control of transmission are two of the greatest challenges faced by providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on the progression and severity of the disease, many patients must be placed in negative pressure rooms and/or on mechanical ventilators, which are in limited supply and pose an elevated risk to healthcare workers due to potential aerosolization of the virus. The number of hospitalized patients in need of breathing assistance has exploded since the pandemic began, leaving hospitals overtaxed, ventilators in high demand, and doctors forced to make life and death decisions about who receives ventilators and who does not.

Solution

University of Michigan researchers and engineers have developed a solution that provides negative pressure and PPE all in one. The helmet (called Aerosolve) enables the isolated use of a Heated High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) or nebulized medications, sparing the need for a mechanical ventilator or potentially allowing earlier transition from mechanical ventilation. 

Aerosolve’s compact design effectively creates a personal negative pressure environment wherever the patient is, and it maintains that environment even if the patient requires movement (imaging, testing, bathroom, etc.). 

Competitive Advantage

• Rapid setup and readily scalable

• Allows clinicians to use all the tools in their medical arsenal without fear of contracting the illness themselves 

• Spares Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Comfortable for the patient

• Beneficial in isolated environments (ground and air ambulances, cruise ships, aircraft carriers, etc.)

• Value beyond pandemics – useful in other respiratory conditions where risk of infectious transmissibility is high