A low-cost life support machine for patients with covid

A low-cost life support machine for patients with covid A device that helps desperately sick patients breathe- and- costs around £150 to manufacture- could revolutionise access -to life-saving care in low to middle income countries. It -has been designed to provide therapeutic oxygen support to -patients -severely ill with-Covid-19, pneumonia or other forms of respiratory distress - and -was developed using the principles of “frugal- engineering” by a team of scientists and clinicians at the University of Leeds, - Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust - and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust -. Stripped of unnecessary functionality, the device has been -made- for lower-resourced healthcare- settings, where there is a critical shortage of equipment to- support patients’ breathing. The pandemic is highlighting the devastating shortage of medical equipment that can help people breathe. Known as the Leeds- LeVe, it- delivers a form of oxygen therapy known as CPAP -or- continuous positive airway pressure. Recent scientific -reports have shown- that -CPAP- can help save the lives of- patients moderately or severely ill with-Covid-19. It has passed safety tests, and a trial evaluating its effectiveness on sick patients is due to start shortly in Africa.