A University of Alberta engineering duo is getting a boost from the university's newly formed commercialization engine, imYEG, to get a new device for people with breathing challenges to market.
Medical devices that assist people who have a low level of oxygen in their blood have evolved from large stationary tanks of compressed oxygen to portable units, explained mechanical engineering professor Andrew Martin. These portable oxygen concentrators can weigh less than three kilograms, concentrate the oxygen from air on the spot and deliver precise doses with every breath.
Unfortunately, there's a subset of patients — as well as regular patients when they're breathing quietly — whose shallow breaths aren't recognized by these units.
Martin and his engineering master's graduate Cole Christianson have applied to patent a design that would replace the traditional nasal prongs with a design that fits more snugly into the patient's nostrils to improve breath detection.
