New Technology for Respiratory Care

New technology utilizes heat and capillary action to rapidly turn liquid into vapor and is expected to lead to improvements in respiratory and humidification treatments.

About the size of an aspirin tablet, the technology was initially developed for camping stoves due to its ability to turn liquid fuel into vapor and release it with a high-velocity jet action. The resulting vapor is more readily usable because it is a true vapor, meaning that liquid droplets are not created during the process and therefore do not need to evaporate before a vapor is formed. Also, the technology does not utilize moving parts, so there are no complicated, breakable components.

The technology, called capillary force vaporizer, was created by Vapore, Inc. (Richmond, CA, USA). The vaporizer is made of ceramic discs. When liquid is supplied at the bottom of the discs, capillary forces lift the liquid through the discs, similar to the way water is brought to the top of a tree. Heat is then applied to the top of the discs and phase transition turns the liquid into a vapor that is released through an opening.

Vapore is working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on developing first-generation products utilizing the technology. PARI Innovative Manufacturers (Midlothian, VA, USA) has licensed the technology for use in respiratory care worldwide. In testing, PARI and Vapore engineers were able to create a humidifier that generated vapor in two or three seconds and was the size of a D battery. The test was extremely efficient with a 93% energy-use rating. PARI sees the eventual use of this technology for hospital ventilators, infant incubators, and other applications.

"We are pleased to partner with Vapore, Inc. to bring this new technology to the medical community and look forward to partnering with pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers to further improve breathing and humidification treatments,” said Werner Gutmann, president and CEO of PARI.





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