Students Invent New Portable Respiratory Support Device

The Baby Bubbler is a new device designed to help children with acute respiratory infections breathe naturally as they recover. The CPAP system was created by a group of enterprising seniors at Rice University who recognized the need for a portable device for infants that can be taken to countries lacking resources for medical equipment.

"Our device is not a replacement for a ventilator—it's a respiratory support device," said Heather Machen, an attending physician in the emergency center and assistant professor of pediatrics at Texas Children's Hospital, who advised the students. "Unlike a ventilator, a patient must be able to breathe on his or her own. With the use of CPAP, many children will be able to recover without a ventilator."

The Baby Bubbler has two main components: one, a flow generator, pumps air through a tube and allows clinicians to add oxygen if needed; the tube goes from the generator to the infant, who breathes through nasal prongs, and then to the second component, a water bottle that serves as a regulator. The second component is an alarm that detects backflow of water into the line to warn doctors if the circuit loses pressure.

"It's a simple design, but it's incredibly important in developing countries where the nurse-to-patient ratio is sometimes one nurse for 40 or so patients," said Michael Pandya, a Lubbock, Tex, native who developed the device with four other seniors.

© Copyright Allied Media Group. Reprinted with permission. You can find the articles at the RT Magazine site link:http://www.rtmagazine.com/respiratoryreport/2010-06-17_07.asp