MANHASSET, NY —

In preparation for potential patient surge and shortage of critical mechanical ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a Northwell Health physician, a respiratory therapist, and a 3D printing bioengineer have successfully designed the protocol to turn the more common bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machine into a functional invasive mechanical ventilator, through a 3D printed adaptor they also designed to aid in the conversion.

BiPAP is one type of PAP, or positive airway pressure, non-invasive machine that is commonly used to maintain a consistent breathing pattern at night or during symptom flare-ups in people with sleep apnea, congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic inflammatory lung disease.

As the health systems nationwide brace themselves for a potential increase in COVID-19 patients and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo calls for an increased supply of ventilators for hospitals statewide, a team led by Hugh Cassiere, MD, medical director for respiratory therapy services at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and Stanley John, NSUH’s director of respiratory therapy, developed a method to convert the non-invasive Philips Respironics V60 BiPAP machine into a pressure controlled ventilator for both patients with and without COVID-19 induced lung disease.

“Our hospitals are at the US epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, and some of our COVID-19 patients require intensive care unit therapy and mechanical ventilators within minutes of being hospitalized,” said Dr. Cassiere. One sleepless night, Dr. Cassiere thought of the fleet of unused BiPAP machines in the hospitals. “I knew we could develop a way to repurpose and convert these machines to save hundreds of lives.”