Continuous Negative Abdominal Pressure (CNAP) device

BACKGROUND

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure seen in severe cases of COVID-19 and Pneumonia. It is characterized by the lungs being inflamed, waterlogged and the lower lung being closed. One current solution to opening the lower lung is ventilating with relatively high enough pressure to inflate the lower lung. Another current solution involves flipping the patient onto their stomach while ventilating. While on their stomach gravity pulls down the diaphragm, allowing more room for the lower lung to inflate. The disadvantages of these solutions are that high ventilation pressure tends to damage healthy lung tissue. Also, it is best to avoid the close contact required to flip a Covid-19 patient onto their stomach.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

SickKids anesthesiologists and biomechanical engineers have developed a device that works in conjunction with a ventilator to assist ARDS patients including COVID patients on ventilators. The device applies continuous negative pressure to the abdomen/diaphragm to ease the opening of closed lung sections without increasing ventilator pressure or turning the patient over.

COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS & ADVANTAGES

No other commercial device encloses the whole abdomen for this purpose. The ‘gap’ filled by this approach would be more effective (and less damaging) mechanical ventilation of the lungs in critically ill patients (adults and children) when used as an adjunct to conventional ventilation.

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

The device has been approved by Health Canada for its first clinical trial and patients at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity) are being recruited now. Currently we are manufacturing the first prototypes on our 3-D printers. We are immediately looking for a company with the resources to help with the final product design, and to manufacture and sell the device on a worldwide basis. A scientific paper has been published on the effectiveness of the device in animal models and we have filed patents on the design.

PATENT STATUS

International PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CA2018/051478
DEVICE FOR PRODUCING CONTINUOUS NEGATIVE ABDOMINAL PRESSURE

Filing Date: 21 November 2018
Applicant: THE HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN
Inventor: KAVANAGH, Brian Patrick, et al.
Priority Date: 21 November 2017
Priority No: 62/589,285
http://patentscope2.wipo.int/search/pt/detail.jsf;jsessionid=4A13D5C9428BE9B114218FF7ED7EC58A?docId=WO2019100152