Summary

HFNO is a valuable treatment in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its importance has risen as many healthcare systems now discourage using more readily available Non Invasive Ventilation (e.g. BiPAP). Access to HFNO is severely limited. Treatment guidelines for COVID-19 now stipulate maximum treatment levels of 30 litres / minute. The popular HFNO device Airvo™ 2 ("Optiflow") has a maximum capacity of 60 litres / minute but uses only proprietary connectors and cannot be connected to other devices. The basic premise of this project is to provide 3D-printable parts to be able to split the Airvo™ 2 HFNO air flow to enable the system to treat two patients simultaneuosly, thus doubling the treatment capacity. This should not be used if any other method of providing HFNO exists!

This project provides both the 3D-models of parts needed for split HFNO treatment as well as suggested instructions for use and manufacturing instructions. We also aim to continuously provide the validation from both simulations / calculations as well as real world usage.

Fig 1. Render of the T-shaped connector and adapters that enable SHFNO