How a Canadian device aims to help COVID-19 patients breathe with ease

As vaccination continues, some patients with COVID-19 are still in intensive care units fighting for their lives underrespiratorydistress.

A Canadian project wants to change that and researchers in Windsor and Hamilton are working on a ventilation device that aims to ease the suffering of COVID patients experiencingsome of the worst symptoms of the virus.

The device is called the Canada Hood and it is a non-invasive ventilation device that makes it easier for people struggling to breathe to get the oxygen they need to survive.

Windsor researchers includeemergency physicianDr. Jay MacDonaldand former ER chief at Windsor Regional Hospital, Dr. Rob Woodall. Dr. Clive Davis is with Hamilton Health Sciences and is an expert in respirology andintensive care.

Both MacDonald and Davisalso work inhyperbaric medicine which looks at how oxygen can be used at different pressure levels to treat conditions like acute respiratorydistress that may be caused by COVID.

The researchers are working in collaborationwith St.Clair College to test out prototypes of the Canada Hood.

Wendy Foote is a professor with the College'sRespiratory Therapy program and she is leading the testing effort with the team.

"What the hood does it's like a clear marshmallowover your head we can increasethe pressure, so that patients are breathing in an atmosphere of a slightly elevated pressure." She adds, "What that does is it helps to keep our lungs open and that helps to improve oxygenation."

Foote also says that the device can be used to prevent patients from reaching a critical stage that would require invasiveintubationto be treated.

The hood also protects healthcare workers while they do their jobs."Itactually has a seal at the neck and helps contain the patient's exhaled gases and it's filtered, so that we weren't exposing healthcare workers to an infected environment."

The device has existedin various forms before and a version was used in some European countries as the pandemic was declared last year.

At the time, Canada was unable to pursue the option of developing the ventilation devicebecause of limited manufacturing capabilities.

The Canada Hood project hopes to make improvements to existingmodels and plans are in place to have local respiratorytherapists in Windsor-Essex test out the device in June and July this year.