Formula One engineers have helped develop a new breathing device for coronavirus patients.

The Mercedes team and academics at University College London took just four days to produce the first 'continuous positive airway pressure' (CPAP) device - 100 of which are now going into clinical trials at a hospital in north London.

The equipment - which pushes air and oxygen into a mask to inflate a patient's lungs - is an alternative treatment for people too frail to undergo invasive ventilation procedures.

It has already been signed off as safe for medical use by the MHRA safety watchdog and should complete its clinical trial to prove it helps patients at University College London Hospital by the end of this week.

The technique has been widely used in Italy, where ventilators are in short supply.

Ventilator 'rationing' has also begun at one London hospital, with bosses ruling that only patients with a 'reasonable chance of survival' should be allowed them.

Formula One engineers have helped develop a new breathing device for coronavirus patients (one pictured)

The device (mouth piece pictured) works by pushing a mixture of air and oxygen into the mouth and nose at a continuous rate to keep the airways open

The Mercedes team and academics at University College London took just four days to produce the first 'continuous positive airway pressure' (CPAP) device - which will keep patients out of ICU because they don't need to be sedated. File image used

Mercedes has teamed up with UCL to work on the device. File image used

The device comes as:

The UK coronavirus death toll increased by 209 in 24 hours from 1,019 to 1,228

There are now 19,522 confirmed cases nationwide but there could be many more

Healthcare data company predicts 1.6million Britons already have the virus

Public Health England introduced stricter guidelines for NHS frontline workers saying anyone within 3ft of a coronavirus patient should have goggles, mask, apron and gloves after complaints doctors and nurses aren't protected

First practicing consultant, Dr Amged El-Hawrani, 55, ear, nose and throat specialist at Queen's Hospital Burton died after getting virus on Saturday

Ministers have agreed to buy 17.5million testing kits to swab quarter of UK

The Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains team deconstructed an existing CPAP machine - which was previously used to treat sleep apnoea - that had fallen out of patent.

They improved on the design and have the tools and equipment to construct 300 a day for the NHS.

How does a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device work? Continuous positive airway pressure devices are a way of helping patients to breathe without having to sedate them. They push a mixture of air and oxygen into the mouth and nose at a continuous rate to keep the airways open. This increases the amount of oxygen entering a patient's lungs and helps them to breathe. 'CPAP feels similar to breathing whilst having your head out the window of a moving car,' said Stephen O'Connor of the institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. If used properly a CPAP can remove the need for a patient to be put on a ventilator while still giving them a safe amount of oxygen, said O'Connor. They are used for patients too unwell for simple oxygen but well enough not to need a ventilator immediately. Invasive ventilators deliver oxygen directly to the lungs, but require heavy sedation and connection to a tube placed into the patient's windpipe. CPAPs are already used widely throughout the NHS, but are being scaled up for mass production to help with the coronavirus epidemic. Without CPAP machines all patients not able to be stabilised by an oxygen mask would be put on a ventilator. 'CPAP breathing aids are important as they can be given to patients before their condition has significantly deteriorated without needing to admit them to intensive care. 'This can lead to better clinical outcomes and reduce the burden on stretched intensive care units,' said Peter Bannister of the Institution of engineering and Technology. Source: University College London Advertisement

If other F1 teams contribute they believe they could make 1,000 a day with just a week's notice.

Professor Mervyn Singer, a critical care consultant at UCLH, said: 'These devices will help to save lives by ensuring that ventilators, a limited resource, are used only for the most severely ill.

'While they will be tested at UCLH first, we hope they will make a real difference to hospitals across the UK by reducing demand on intensive care staff and beds, as well as helping patients recover without the need for more invasive ventilation.'

Professor Tim Baker, a mechanical engineering expert at UCL, added: 'Given the urgent need, we are thankful that we were able to reduce a process that could take years down to a matter of days.

'From being given the brief, we worked all hours of the day, disassembling and analysing an off-patent device. Using computer simulations, we improved the device further to create a state-of-the-art version suited to mass production.

'We were privileged to be able to call on the capability of Formula One.'

The collaboration was conducted through 'Project Pitlane' - a collective of UK-based Formula One teams responding to the Government's call for assistance with the manufacture of medical devices.

For those elderly or 'at risk' patients with underlying immune or respiratory conditions, the CPAP device may not be strong enough, however.

A senior consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust told the Daily Telegraph that invasive ventilators for those who are extremely unwell are being restricted on 'medical grounds' not because of a lack of capacity.

The trust said that 'very poorly patients' require ventilators for two or three weeks, which would not be in their best interests.

The consultant added: 'With this infection you need a couple of weeks on a ventilator, so with resources being used for such a long time, you have to be reasonably certain the person is going to get better.

'Delaying their death for two or three weeks is not the right thing for them or for society.'

It comes after a group of 23 UK manufacturers, including luxury carmarkers Rolls Royce, received a Government order for 10,000 invasive ventilators to treat coronavirus patients.

The consortium, which also includes Ford and is ready to start producing medical devices under the name Project Oyster and also jointly scaling-up production of an existing design, known as Project Penguin.

It follows an announcement from Dyson that it had received an order from Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who himself has coronavirus - to build 10,000 of its own CoVent design devices as well.

Ministers have been trying to boost the number of ventilators in recent weeks as they look to increase the stock of just over 8,000 already available to the NHS.

Professor Rebecca Shipley of UCL engineering is pictured with Professor Tim Baker of UCL Medicine who both worked on the device