UArizona Researchers Invent Respiratory Device

TUCSON, AZ — Researchers at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine have invented a respiratory assist device meant to ease breathing for those with respiratory illnesses The invention comes amid the new coronavirus pandemic, causing breathing difficulties worldwide.

The device, a "small-scale, low-pressure heliox rebreathing system," removes carbon dioxide and recirculates gases, the university said in a news release.

The release says heliox systems work by mixing helium and oxygen, creating a lower-density gas than the air we normally breathe, allowing the gas to flow more easily through respiratory airways.

Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, professor of medicine and chief of the university's pulmonary department, said the team initially developed the device for patients with asthma and other.

"Then COVID hit," he said, "and we saw that we could have a huge impact if we could make this available quickly to clinicians and first responders."

"Institutions around the world are working around the clock to respond to the current crisis," Doug Hockstad, assistant vice president of Tech Launch Arizona, the university's commercialization unit, said in the release. "We've been working with this team for several months, and are thrilled that they've been able to see the current need and aggressively pivot to supply this solution at such an urgent time."

See the full news release here.