The novel Mechanical Ventilator Milano for the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper presents the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM), a novel intensive therapy mechanical ventilator designed for rapid, large-scale, low-cost production for the COVID-19 pandemic. Free of moving mechanical parts and requiring only a source of compressed oxygen and medical air to operate, the MVM is designed to support the long-term invasive ventilation often required for COVID-19 patients and operates in pressure-regulated ventilation modes, which minimize the risk of furthering lung trauma. The MVM was extensively tested against ISO standards in the laboratory using a breathing simulator, with good agreement between input and measured breathing parameters and performing correctly in response to fault conditions and stability tests. The MVM has obtained Emergency Use Authorization by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic and Health Canada Medical Device Authorization for Importation or Sale, under Interim Order for Use in Relation to COVID-19. Following these certifications, mass production is ongoing and distribution is under way in several countries. The MVM was designed, tested, prepared for certification, and mass produced in the space of a few months by a unique collaboration of respiratory healthcare professionals and experimental physicists, working with industrial partners, and is an excellent ventilator candidate for this pandemic anywhere in the world.

Evaporation versus iced gastric lavage treatment of heatstroke: comparative efficacy in a canine model

We compared the speed of cooling and treatment efficacy for evaporative cooling vs. iced gastric lavage in a canine heatstroke model. Nine random-source, mongrel dogs were anesthetized, shaved, and internally heated until the core temperature reached 43.0 degrees C. The animals were then randomly assigned to be cooled to 37 degrees C either by iced (1 degree C) tap water gastric lavage (n = 5200 ml/min) through a large (32-Fr) orogastric tube, or by spraying with tap water (n = 4, 15 degrees C, 12 L/min) before a large fan blowing room temperature air (23 degrees C) across the dog at 0.5 m/sec from a height of 50 cm. Temperatures were monitored by thermocouples in both tympanic membranes and the pulmonary artery. BP, pulse, and cardiac output were measured every 5 min. Evaporative cooling was twice as fast as iced gastric lavage (0.16 +/- .05 degree vs. 0.08 +/- .01 degree C/min X m2, p less than .01). Animals in the evaporatively cooled group also experienced a quicker and more complete return to baseline cardiac indices than the lavage-treated group. Moreover, all animals treated with evaporation survived and were neurologically intact 48 h later, while only one lavage-treated dog was neurologically intact over the same period. The others in the lavage group died one hour after cooling (n = 1), were grossly ataxic (n = 1), or were persistently comatose (n = 2). A simple evaporative cooling technique, readily available in the emergency department, appears to be the most rapid and effective means for cooling and treating heatstroke in the dog.