IIT Guwahati students have developed low-cost intubation boxes for COVID19 patients who have breathing problems.
According to a report, the device developed by the IIT Guwahati students functions as an aerosol obstruction box which can be placed on the side of the patient’s head atop the bed.
During the process of intubation, the device can limit the flow of virus-laden droplets from the patient to the doctor.
Intubation is the process of inserting a tube, which is known as endotracheal tube (ET), through the mouth and then into the airway.
The doctors do it so that a patient can be placed on a ventilator to assist with breathing during anaesthesia, sedation or severe illness.
The primary prototype of the design was reportedly completed at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The intubation box is currently being reviewed at major COVID19 care centres including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said a report.
It has been claimed that the device will be available at a cheaper price.
A report quoted Umang Mathur, a B.Tech student of the Department of Bioscience as saying: “Amid the dearth of PPE such as Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PARPs) and well-sealed face masks, it becomes essential to complement the use of makeshift acrylic face shields, N95 masks and surgical respirators, with a proper obstruction for aerosol spewed via the mouth and nose of the patient.
“The intubation box allows having this protection in place by limiting the infection within the box’s volume around the patient,” Umang Mathur further said.
He also informed that unlike other PPEs, this box works effectively for the doctors and nurses.
The report Sanchit Jhunjhunwala, a Mechanical Engineering student as saying: “We have started a crowd funding campaign in order to manufacture these boxes and provide them to government hospitals for free. The campaign raised a record INR 50,000 within six hours of launching.”
“The projected cost per box is INR 2000, which is significantly lower than existing alternatives,” Sanchit informed.
The six-member team of the institute has Prateek Manocha and Vrishank Bhardwaj, from the department of Electrical Engineering; Vignesh Kumar from Department of Design and Shwetank Panwar from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, the report added.
IIT Guwahati researchers have also invented a number of devices to fight COVID19 pandemic and their efforts have been lauded by the Union Human Resources Development Minister.