Following the recent spike in the number of coronavirus patients in critical condition and in need of respiratory support, three major medical centers in Israel adopted a new type of respiratory system, according to mobihealthnews.
Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center in Be'er Ya'akov and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon received the new respiratory device called "AnapoGuard," produced by Hospitech Respiration, an Israeli startup company.
While other hospitals have only recently gotten the system, it has been in use at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa since 2018.
One of the risks of prolonged reliance on respiratory support system in coronavirus patiets is a lung infection, caused by an accumulation of excess fluids in the lungs. AnapoGuard helps remove these excess fluids, which often indicate that a patient is in the early stages of pneumonia.
Medical experts who are on the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus have welcomed this latest addition to their arsenal. One of them, Professor Gil Bolotin, Director of the department of Cardiac Surgery at Rambam, described his experience:
"My department has been using the AnapnoGuard system when treating high-risk ventilated patients. During this time, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of patients who developed lung and pulmonary infections following intubation."
The devices were given to the hospitals on a free loan-basis, likely out of a dire need for ventilators, which are in short supply.