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A hospital in Connecticut has successfully employed a new 3D-printed device that makes it possible to modify one ventilator for use in two critically ill patients with COVID-19 who have different respiratory needs, as the coronavirus outbreak puts a crunch on medical resources.

The device was tested in patients at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, its maker, Vent Multiplexor LLC, said on Monday.

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Use of one ventilator for two COVID patients was reported in a New York hospital last month, but a major limitation to wider use of the approach has been that patients had to be similar in size, with similar lung function and respiratory needs.

The new device, called a vent multiplexor, allows doctors to adjust each patient’s tidal volume, or the amount of air moving into and out of the lungs with each breath.

“These device would be used in the event that we would have entirely run out of ventilators, or would need extra capacity in a surge setting,” said Peter Kahn, a doctor at the hospital and also the medical director of Vent Multiplexor.