As any medical student well knows, the initial treatment for spontaneous pneumothorax is a placement of a small-bore IV or pigtail catheter into the chest in the 2nd intercostal space at the mid-clavicular line, followed by aspiration of air from the pleural space. When up to 4 liters of air in adults are removed, the lung should re-expand itself. Cambridge Consultants think they can make this old process a little more intelligent by optimizing the pressure and flow rate of the aspiration process, and providing necessary data. The company claims that its new device, dubbed Breathe™, can measure the volume of aspirant and control the negative pressure and flow rate. They hope their technology will give physicians a better idea of the dynamics happening while they work the syringe. Cambridge Consultants is looking for partners to help commercialize the device.
Automatic aspiration for PSP increases the dynamism of the treatment process and creates a host of beneficial outcomes. For one, the operator must engage with accurate, real-time data about the volume and pressure in the patient’s chest cavity. And in a regulatory environment where data is becoming ever more important, the device’s diagnostic capabilities provide useful statistics about the body’s environment and its reaction to aspiration. Meanwhile, doctors have a new tool in which they can make more educated decisions about their patients. Furthermore, since researchers have never had such data to work with, new and unforeseen conclusions about PSP may arise from the analysis of automatic aspiration intelligence.
Press release: Breathe™ easy: Cambridge Consultants technology adds intelligence and automation to aspiration procedures