IIT students develop intubation boxes to protect doctors treating COVID-19 patients
Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are suffering from low-cost intubation boxes for coping with COVID-19 patients facing breathing issues and requiring assistance in the type of endotracheal intubation.
Intubation is the process of inserting a tube, named an endotracheal tube (ET), through the mouth and into the airway. It really is done so that an individual can be located on a ventilator to aid with breathing during anaesthesia, sedation or serious illness.
The device produced by IIT Guwahati functions as an aerosol obstruction box that can be placed atop the patient’s bed on the head-side, limiting the flow of virus-laden droplets from the individual to the doctor, especially during the procedure for intubation, which may be cough inducing.
According to the team, the primary prototype of the look has been completed at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the box is currently being reviewed at major COVID-19 care centres including at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
“Amid the dearth of PPE such as Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PARPs) and well-sealed face masks, it becomes essential to complement the application of makeshift acrylic face shields, N95 masks and surgical respirators, with an effective obstruction for aerosol spewed via the mouth and nose of the individual,” Umang Mathur, a B.Tech student at the Department of Bioscience, told PTI. “The intubation box allows having this protection in place by limiting the infection within the box’s volume around the patient.”
Unlike other PPE, this box works effectively for multiple doctors and nurses serving the individual. “As the transparent material allows visual usage of the head of the individual inside, the arm-holes on the box enable the care-provider to execute any necessary tasks including intubation and extubation. Further, the boxes are reusable, as they may be cleaned thoroughly with 70 per cent alcohol or bleach, to permit use for another patient,” Umang added.
According to Sanchit Jhunjhunwala, a Mechanical Engineering student, predicated on the feedback received from AIIMS and other COVID-19 health centres, the look will be further optimised for improved efficacy, prior to the first batch is made in Gurgaon (Haryana).
“We have started a crowd funding campaign as a way to manufacture these boxes and offer them to government hospitals free of charge. The campaign raised Rs 50,000 within six hours of launching,” Sanchit said
“This is a low-cost option to intubation boxes and is much easier to manufacture and deliver amid the lockdown. The projected cost per box is Rs 2000, which is drastically lower than existing alternatives,” he added.
The six-member team includes Prateek Manocha and Vrishank Bhardwaj, from department of electrical engineering; Shwetank Panwar from Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering and Vignesh Kumar from Department of Design.
The Government-run Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Behrampur has also developed an aerosol box for intubation process.
Source: www.deccanchronicle.com
