The University College London (UCL), in collaboration with Mercedes-AMG HPP and University College London Hospital (UCLH), has developed a new breathing aid: a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device. The CPAP supports patients with breathing difficulties. It works by pushing an air-oxygen mix into the mouth and nose at a continuous pressure, keeping airways open and increasing the amount of oxygen entering the blood stream. This breathing aid can be used to help Covid-19 patients with serious respiratory problems to breathe more easily and has mitigated the need for invasive ventilation.

This CPAP has been approved for manufacture by UK regulators and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) under special conditions. These conditions state that this is a non-CE marked CPAP, given approval for use in the NHS for the interest of public health protection under the Covid-19 pandemic emergency.

Any manufacture and use of this CPAP by third parties requires local regulatory approval, depending on the third party’s respective country, and must fully comply with any stipulated conditions, laws and regulations that ensure full patient safety.

The technical specifications for this CPAP are being shared for humanitarian purposes, to help support the international community in addressing pressing demands to safeguard Covid-19 patients.

Please find the orignial article about the CPAP here. More information on the licence, design and application can be found here. 

To discuss this topic in the COVID-19 Forum, please follow this link.