O2 Cell - Respiratory Air

High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy, has a number of physiological advantages over conventional oxygen therapy, such as reduced anatomical dead volume, lower inspiratory ventilation pressure and a relatively constant oxygen concentration in the inspiratory gas (FiO2). Although only a few large randomized clinical trials have been conducted to date, HFNC has become increasingly important as an alternative respiratory support for critically ill patients. Numerous published reports suggest that HFNC reduces the respiratory rate and work of breathing and the need to further increase the respiratory support as the disease progresses. HFNC can therefore be considered an innovative and effective method for the early treatment of adults suffering from respiratory insufficiency caused by various underlying diseases.
However, in the context of a global pandemic that threatens to overwhelm the capacities of health care systems, the use of existing devices is limited due to two factors. First, existing systems only allow for the treatment of one patient at a time and secondly require an independent oxygen supply. Therefore, we propose a HFNC device that is capable of providing several patients with oxygen enriched air, based on a membrane separation process allowing the use without existing oxygen infrastructure.