A Simplified Adult Expiratory Support Device: First Clinical Cases in a Low-Resource Setting

Abstract

Purpose: In low and middle-income countries, mechanical ventilators or commercially available devices used to offer continuous positive airway pressure are not readily affordable and available. In Ghana, nearly 10% of critically ill patients presenting to the emergency department require ventilator support.

Description: We designed, built, and tested a simple expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) device to provide adult respiratory support in low resource environments with or without supplemental oxygen and without the need for electricity.

Evaluation: Laboratory tests demonstrated that the device is capable of delivering EPAP at levels expected to provide significant assistance to some patients. We present the first 2 cases where the use of this simple EPAP device provided critical respiratory support during weaning of patients from mechanical ventilation.

Conclusions: A low-cost 3-dimensional printable adult respiratory support device could provide substantial benefit to patients suffering from respiratory distress through the delivery of appropriate levels of EPAP in a low-resource setting with limited infrastructure. Further clinical validation is needed for broader application in low-resource settings.