Italian medics are converting Decathlon snorkelling masks into 'homemade' ventilators to cope with coronavirus crisis

Italian medics are converting snorkelling masks into makeshift ventilator masks in order to plug the shortage of medical equipment during the coronavirus outbreak.

As hospitals face an overload of COVID-19 patients struggling to breathe, innovative medical staff have used 3D printed valves to adapt ordinary full face snorkelling masks from sports stores such as Decathlon into live saving equipment. 

The idea started in Italy, the worst-hit country worst hit by coronavirus in Europe, but has now been adopted by other nations who are adding their own specific medical parts to provide critical air flow to stop patient's lungs collapsing.   

+8

A medical worker tests a Decathlon snorkeling mask upgraded with 3D-printed respiratory valves fittings on March 27 at the Erasme Hospital in Brussels

One such is the Erasme Hospital on the outskirts of Belgium's capital Brussels, who joined with Endo Tools Therapeutics to 3D print a connecting valve between the masks and a ventilator machine.

Frederic Bonnier, a respiratory physiotherapist at the hospital said: 'They are to be used for patients with severe respiratory problems. The aim is to avoid having to intubate the trachea of the patient and put them on a respirator.'

He spearheaded the design of a custom-made valve that fits to the top of full-face masks, where the snorkel is meant to go, allowing them to connect to standard BiPAP machines that feed pressurised air into masks.

This helps prevent the collapse of alveoli, lung air sacs needed for the intake of oxygen into our bodies and the exhalation of carbon dioxide. Pneumonia brought on by COVID-19 inflames the lung membrane and fills those sacs with liquid. 

+8

The custom-made valve fits to the top of full-face masks, where the snorkel is meant to go, allowing them to connect to standard BiPAP machines that feed pressurised air into masks

+8

The pressurised air provided helps prevent the collapse of alveoli, lung air sacs needed for the intake of oxygen into our bodies and the exhalation of carbon dioxide

Stop-gap solution 

In the worst-case infections, patients have to be hooked up to respirators in intensive-care units.

But respirators are in desperately short supply worldwide because of the sheer number of patients.

The snorkelling mask solution could be a stop-gap measure for patients on the brink of intensive-care treatment but for whom no beds nor respirators are available. Hospital masks for the less-intensive BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) machines are also lacking.

+8

Respirators are in desperately short supply worldwide because of the sheer number of patients - the masks could help fill the equipment gap

Italilan company turns a snorkelling mask into a ventilator

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

0:00

Previous

Play

Skip

Mute

Current Time0:00

/

Duration Time2:22

Fullscreen

Need Text

Bonnier said that from Monday he will testing 50 of the masks on patients.

They are the same brand as those used by Italian doctors, donated by the French sportswear retailer Decathlon that has stores worldwide. The masks themselves are made in Italy.

He explained they were far more comfortable than the hospital ones that fit over the nose and mouth, biting into the skin. But he cautioned they were not tested to medical standards, meaning they were one-use only, unable to be sterilised between patients.

The Italian design for the 3D-printed valve also needed reworking.

+8

The masks are not tested to medical standards, meaning they were one-use only, unable to be sterilised between patients

'It seemed fairly complicated to make, pretty heavy, not very comfortable. So we had the idea to go a little further by thinking on it and developing our own connection part,' he said.

The new plastic valve connectors have now been 3D-printed and are ready to be tested.

Bonnier added that health workers in COVID-19 wards could also use the masks for protection against the virus. But he fears the public will start panic-buying them, thereby depriving hospitals of a potentially life-saving product.

He also said that, even if the tests prove conclusive, there were still questions about how many such masks could be made available by sporting companies, under what conditions.

+8

The new plastic valve connectors have now been 3D-printed and are ready to be tested

+8

There are still questions about how many such masks could be made available by sporting companies, under what conditions

Retailer caution

Learning of the emergency use being made of its snorkelling masks, Decathlon expressed 'interest' -- but also prudence.

'At the moment we don't have confirmation that these solutions really work,' it said on its Twitter account.

'If we see successful try-outs, and these hospitals confirm to us that some tests work, then we'll keep you informed. But in the meantime, beware of unsourced and unverified information spread on social media in recent days.' 

+8

Medic said the masks are far more comfortable than the hospital ones that fit over the nose and mouth, biting into the skin