Main photo Simon Hall

A Knowle West entrepreneur has developed a pioneering medical device in his garage – which he will be supplying free to hospitals to help them tackle the coronavirus.

Simon Hall, a medical engineer, has designed an airway suction device which he says will “save lives and enable the NHS and emergency services to allocate resources more freely.”

With the start of the pandemic, he wanted to work on the design to help the NHS in their request for medical equipment – and founded his not-for profit company Airway Medical based in Willinton Road in April.

The Covid-19 specific unit, known as the CAMSU, can be used as a backup on pre Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU) patients, in case the hospital’s main system fails.

Simon explains: “The device clears blocked airways if someone is either choking to death or needs mucus/sputum clearing from their airway. It is particularly useful for pre-ITU Patients…

“Without suction; any mucus will be forced into the lungs, creating potentially fatal complications for the patient…”

The CAMSU “costs 10% of current technology, is 95% smaller and weighs 99% less – but works just as well and meets international standards.”

The equipment will also have “Graphene tm’ impregnated in it which kills all viruses and bacteria on contact – including Covid-19. It will be the first time this has ever been used in a medical device.

A crowdfunding page has so far raised over £10,000 to produce a thousand 3D print versions of the device to be supplied to the NHS free of charge.

Simon and his team at Airway Medical Ltd are currently working with University of Portsmouth to “refine the design and make the suction more efficient.”

The CAMSU will then be tested with the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth before being released for manufacture and supply to become a global medical device.

Once the design has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the company hopes the CAMSU can be despatched to clinicians by the end of June.

For more information and to support the Crowdfunder visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/covid19airwaymedicalsuctionunit.