Researchers create low-cost respiratory care devices for developing countries
Researchers from the group led by Professor Ramon Farré, have worked on and assessed the technical aspects of two low-cost devices to ease the application of adult and paediatric respiratory support, respectively, in developing countries. The results have been published in the journals American Journal of Respiratory and Crititical Care Medicine and European Respiratory Journal.
Researchers from the group led by Professor Ramon Farré, have worked on and assessed the technical aspects of two low-cost devices to ease the application of adult and paediatric respiratory support, respectively, in developing countries. The results have been published in the journals American Journal of Respiratory and Crititical Care Medicine and European Respiratory Journal.
Expanding the application of paediatric respiratory support in developing countries is crucial when considering the published data by WHO, in 2015 there were 5.9 million deaths of children aged under five, 2.7 million of them being during the neonatal period, pneumonia being the main cause of death in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, sleep apnea in adults, which carry a high risk of cardiovascular alterations, are predominant in developing countries and cannot be properly treated due a lack of devices to use the required respiratory treatment.
Researchers of the UB, also members of CIBERES and IDIBAPS, used a new approach based on collaborative design, which involved a team of civil engineers from the Pedagogical University of Mozambique, without experience in CPAP at first, and a western multidisciplinary team with experience on clinical application and technology on this therapy. The key point of this technological transfer strategy, which makes it original, compared to other proposals, was to move the focus of the design from the view of the developed country to the team in the developing country. In particular, they could design, build and assess a CPAP device the team in Mozambique could build and keep autonomously at a low cost -under 100 euros, compared to common CPAP which cost between 200 and more than 1,000 euros-, using easy-to-build and affordable compounds through online commerce.
It is noteworthy the fact that the research group has published these innovations following the free hardware premises. Therefore, all technical details of the devices -schemes, circuits, etc.- are published so they are accessible, free for the adult device one (in the website of the Unit of Biophysics and Bioengineering of the UB), and on the scientific journals regarding the paediatric one. The aim for any interested user to build CPAP devices easily. This modality of technologic transfer holds a great interest for developing countries, since apart from providing with the treatment in patients who would not receive it otherwise; it favours the creation of innovating companies and initiatives in those countries.
“We believe any effort to improve medical care in developing countries should consider the perspective and real chances of the final user, the one who knows the specific conditions of his/her local, clinical and technological environment”, says Ramon Farré. “This solution -he adds- aims to provide patients with access to a treatment in situations in which the alternative would be to leave them unattended, with devastating consequences”. At the moment, the research team is carrying out the practical application of its solutions in the health system of an African country and in a south-eastern Asian country.
Other experts from the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, the University of Missouri (United States) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (Barcelona) have taken part in the study.
Article reference:
Farré R, Montserrat JM, Solana G, Gozal D, Navajas D. "Easy-to-build andaffordable CPAP device for adult patients in low-income countries". Eur Respir J.
2019 February 6. pii: 1802290.
Farré R, Trias G, Solana G, Ginovart G, Gozal D, Navajas D. "Novel Approach for Providing Pediatric Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices in Low-Income, Underresourced Regions". Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Jan 1;199(1):118-120. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201808-1452LE.
Technical description (Open Source Hardware) accessible via this link. Researchers warn any kind of development derived from these descriptions should be locally tested before its implementation.