Hospitals turn to snorkel masks to ease respirator overload

BRUSSELS - As hospitals face an overload of COVID-19 patients struggling to breathe, innovative medical staff are turning to snorkeling masks from sports stores to stop their lungs from collapsing.

One such is the Erasme Hospital on the outskirts of Belgium's capital Brussels. It is attached to the city's ULB university -- and through it to a private spin-off, Endo Tools Therapeutics, whose knowhow in 3D printing for medical use has proved invaluable. He spearheaded the design of a custom-made valve that fits to the top of full-face masks, where the snorkel is meant to go, allowing them to connect to standard BiPAP machines that feed pressurized air into masks.

He explained they were far more comfortable than the hospital ones that fit over the nose and mouth, biting into the skin. But he cautioned they were not tested to medical standards, meaning they were one-use only, unable to be sterilized between patients. "It seemed fairly complicated to make, pretty heavy, not very comfortable. So we had the idea to go a little further by thinking on it and developing our own connection part," he said.

They say, there's nothing like war to jumpstart technological advancements. And we are in an invisible war.

Kung sa tingin ng mga doctor na pwede why not. Kung makakatulong naman talaga sa pasyente para gumaan ang pakiramdam nila. Okay naman maging resourceful lalo na may shortages ng medical supplies.

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