UCL, UCLH and Formula One develop life-saving breathing aids

A breathing aid developed by engineers at UCL and clinicians at UCLH working with Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains is being deployed in NHS hospitals to help Covid-19 patients breathe more easily. The breathing aid, known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), has been used extensively in hospitals in Italy and China to help Covid-19 patients with serious respiratory problems, when oxygen via a face mask is insufficient. CPAP devices are in short supply in UK hospitals, so engineers at UCL and Mercedes-AMG HPP worked round-the-clock to reverse engineer a device that could be manufactured rapidly by the thousands. This was achieved in a rapid timeframe - it took fewer than 100 hours from the initial meeting to production of the first device. The device was then further refined to consume up to 70% less oxygen. Following approval by the regulator, MHRA, the UK Government placed an order for up to 10,000. These were manufactured at the HPP technology centre in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and deliveries have now begun to hospitals across the NHS network. To help meet international need, the designs and manufacturing instructions have been made freely available to governments, manufacturers, academics and health experts across the globe.