Oxygen Device for Premature Babies

A compact and inexpensive device has been developed for use in developing countries to provide oxygen and atmospheric air to premature babies suffering from respiratory problems.

Called Oxymix, the device ensures the appropriate air/oxygen mix by supplying the correct flow rate of any concentration of oxygen, from 21-100%, from a single 100% oxygen gas supply. Hospitals in many developing countries have access to medical-grade compressed oxygen but not to medical-grade compressed air. In such hospitals, babies with respiratory difficulties are often put in an oxygen hood, which is supplied with a small amount of pure oxygen. However, the build-up of the baby's exhaled carbon dioxide can cause serious problems, Also, the level of oxygen is hard to maintain. If it is too high, it can cause blindness, but if it is too low, it can cause brain damage.

In modern hospitals, the alternative products are either a very expensive air/oxygen blender or a noisy high gas-flow mixer. Oxymix will be available for about one-fourth the cost of a blender. The device is the result of a joint effort between the Australian medical device company NASCOR (Sydney) and CSIRO BioMedical Devices (Sydney). CSIRO is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia.

"NASCOR went to CSIRO to help us develop this device because we knew of their expertise in gas flow and turbine technology,” said Dr. Howard Chilton, chairman of R&D at NASCOR. "CSIRO's mechanical design met all of our objectives in a most elegant fashion.”




Related Links:
NASCOR
CSIRO