Clever Italians - SCUBA mask into ventilator

[Wetstuff]

https://www.designboom.com/design/engineers-hack-scuba-masks-to-use-as-ventilators-03-26-2020/?utm_source=designboom+daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engineers+use+3D+printing+hack+to+turn+scuba+masks+into+ventilators

Jim

[supsean]

damn, thats great!

[Quickbeam]

That is very cool. 

[Surfside]

That's cool.... but it's a CPAP mask.

Ventilators assist/control breathing intubated patients.

[Wetstuff]

Copy that - surfside.  100% - my enthusiasm got ahead of me.

Up that alley - my wife and I have kept Oxygen handy for a number of years.  She was a surgical RN. We have all the tools except a 12-lead. We keep cylinders and cannulas both at my shop and at home.  The response time for the local VFD is ~10min. In town quicker, but if a pulse-ox reads low we can respond in seconds.

You might consider this if someone close is already compromised...

However, you cannot go to Home Depot and walk out with a cylinder.  It is Rx-only and you cannot go to your local welding gas store and get one filled.  BUT, you can go to your local welding gas store and get a cylinder of industrial Oxygen and DIY.  There is a fairly common and totally simple transfer valve that adapts a CGA540 valve to a CGA870. People buy them off eBay - Branton Vet Anesthesia Service in Ft Worth TX is a good source.  Tanks are everywhere.

These transfer valves are commonly used by Veterinarians, Private pilots and SCUBA.   From my standpoint, the better prepared we are - the more likely we'll have a better result when/if the time comes.  (She has a severe tree-nut allergy that arrived one day in her 50's?)   

Jim

[Surfside]

Jim, sorry to hear about your wife. That's awesome that you have supplies and skill to handle an emergency.
That CPAP mask will surely help!

Thanks for sharing

Gary

[surfcowboy]

But doesn't this fall into the bag valve mask category more than a CPAP?

Got a buddy who's a double lung transplant patient and he swears by the bag and a skilled nurse. Either way, this is saving lives and it's cool.

[Surfside]

Hi cowboy, squeezing the bag will create pressure and inflate the lungs, this does not. The PEEP valve restricts end exhalation hopefully increasing the functional residual capacity and help with airway expansion.

[surfcowboy]

Thanks man. That makes sense. I'm hoping for more innovative solutions to come out of this. One of those upsides that are so hard to see right now.

The printable mask movement is another. Healthcare tech isn't easy but it's also not a moonshot.