RAMAT GAN, Israel — A groundbreaking innovation by Israeli startup Yehonatan Medical is addressing staff and ventilator shortages in the country’s COVID-19 intensive care units.
Developed in collaboration with Dr. Ori Efrati, director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Unit at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, the novel ventilation system can be used by 3-5 patients simultaneously — which means more patients being treated by fewer ICU employees.
“Conventional ventilators, aside from being very costly, are limited in that they can only be used with one patient at a time,” Efrati said in a December statement. “Their capacity factor and programming functions were designed for single-patient use, and there is also the danger of cross contamination.”
The Yehonatan Medical ventilation system uses the BiPAP non-invasive ventilation machine, a relatively simple and inexpensive technology that has a built-in disinfecting mechanism. Thanks to its remote interface, the medical team can also monitor patients from a safe distance.
“This tremendous breakthrough is nothing less than a game-changer when it comes to caring for large numbers of corona patients,” Efrati said.
Engineer, scientist and founder of Yehonatan Medical Michael Cohen said his design of the advanced technology was aided by insights from cardiologists, including Dr. David Adams at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Dr. David Tirone of Toronto General Hospital and Dr. Gideon Cohen of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto.
The system is currently in advanced trials at the MSR Medical Simulation Center at Sheba, where it is being tested on artificial lungs. It is expected to be mass marketed in the coming months and could also be used in makeshift clinics, such as field hospitals and step-down units.
Yehonatan Medical is the medical arm of Israeli defense industry company Mofet Etzion. Its development marked the first time an invasive ventilation machine was built in Israel.
Revolutionary Multi-Patient Ventilators Developed for COVID Care appeared first on ISRAEL21c.
(Edited by Carlin Becker and David Martosko)
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