Oxygen-Boosting Device Provides Immediate Relief To Patients

A new device can boost patients’ oxygen levels immediately, reducing the need to induce comas and place them on ventilators.

The machine, developed by Israeli company Inspira Technologies, draws blood with low oxygen levels from patients and circulates it, enriches it with oxygen and removes carbon dioxide, and sends it back through a tube into their neck. 

It is expected to raise the patient’s oxygen saturation to 95 per cent or higher in 60 seconds while they are still awake, and bring them instant relief.  

The company has signed an agreement with Terumo Cardiovascular, an American company that develops heart-lung machines, and oxygenation and monitoring systems. The US-firm will manufacture a flow mechanism that will be integrated into Inspira’s blood circulation process. 

​​Joe Hayon, Inspira Technologies’ Co-Founder and President said: “This is a very important agreement for the company, and we believe that it is in line with our strategy towards developing collaborations with the largest medical device companies to join in on our journey to market.”

For the 400 million people with respiratory insufficiency, physicians offer supplemental treatments using devices like nasal cannula, a tube that supplies oxygen directly into the patients’ nostrils. 

But when that isn’t enough, their only option is to induce coma and place patients on a mechanical ventilator, which is expensive, complex to use, and puts them at a high risk.

Inspira aims to fill the gap between supplemental treatments and treatments that are used as a last resort. Its products have not yet been tested on humans, and have not been approved by any regulatory entity.

Terumo’s products are sold in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and in the Asia Pacific. 

Inspira was founded in 2018, and is based in Ra’anana, central Israel.