Can Sleep Apnea Machines Be Used To Ease Pressure On Ventilators?

One of the big issues contributing to the Covid-19 death toll, is the shortage of hospital grade ventilators to assist patients in intensive care. With the time that it takes to manufacture these ventilators – other potential solutions are being explored in the interim. One possibility – is the re-purposing of sleep apnea machines (Also known as C-PAP machines) to be re-programmed to work as ventilators for patients with less acute COVID-19 symptoms. With the abundance of C-PAP machines already available, this could provide a short-term solution to this critical health care shortage. Mike Hearn is a software engineer from Zurich and has been researching and analysing this potential fix. He caught up with 2SER producer Stefan Posthuma to tell us more.

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