12 August 2020 - - US-based medical technology company Vapotherm, Inc. (NYSE: VAPO) has released a low-cost kit to help clinicians create a zone of relative negative pressure at the patient's face which may mitigate the risk of transmission of potentially infectious particles while treating COVID-19 patients, the company said.

All profits from the kits will be distributed to non-profit organisations supporting front-line clinicians fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

The FELIX-1 negative pressure scavenger kit is a preassembled tool compatible with high velocity therapy, an advanced form of high flow nasal cannula increasingly used by clinicians in supporting the respiratory needs of COVID-19 patients.

The FELIX-1 design is replicable with off-the-shelf components, and is named for Felix Khusid, a respiratory therapy leader working in New York City who shared this previously implemented design with Vapotherm during the first wave of COVID-19.

In computational fluid dynamics simulations performed by Vapotherm, the FELIX-1 negative pressure scavenger kit was capable of capturing up to 97% of particle mass when connected to an in-room vacuum system and used in conjunction with Vapotherm high velocity therapy.

Vapotherm will donate all profits from the sale of these kits to non-profit funds to support caregivers serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as those established by the American Association of Respiratory Care, Emergency Nurses Association, and the American College of Emergency Physicians

Vapotherm, Inc. (NYSE: VAPO) is a developer and manufacturer of advanced respiratory technology based in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA.

The company develops non-invasive technologies for respiratory support of patients with chronic or acute breathing disorders.