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“When you hook the shop vac up, you start to draw the pressure down,” said Lipsett.

“When you release that pressure, the pressure around the chest will go back to normal and the patient will be able to exhale.”

Because patients’ breathing ability varies, a valve made from home improvement parts has been implanted in the bucket to adjust the pressure, said the men.

The negative pressure system does have advantages over the now-more-typical positive pressure devices because they don’t obstruct the patients’ face, they said.

The system was inspired by the Emerson iron lung developed in the mid-20th century to treat polio patients.

While the two academics have kept provincial health authorities abreast of their work, it’s not something they would contemplate using in Alberta, said Ungrin.

There are concerns in Canada, the U.S. and Europe about access to enough ventilators to treat a surge of COVID-19 patients.

On Wednesday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Alberta should have enough breathing aids but added “we are working with the federal government to see if we can source additional ventilators.”

Photo by Supplied

The professors’ makeshift device could be used as a template in developing countries hit hard by the novel coronavirus, and as a last resort, he said.

“If we could get a good design working, people could build them with items they have,” said Ungrin, associate professor of comparative biology and experimental medicine in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the university’s Biomedical Engineering research and training programs.