PAPR will help healthcare personnel on COVID-19 duty overcome breathing difficulties while wearing PPE kits for long hours
A novel powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) has been developed under the NIDHI PRAYAS funding scheme of the Department of Science and Technology, through TIMed, the Technology Business Incubator of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST) in Thiruvananthapuram
PAPR will help healthcare personnel on COVID-19 duty overcome breathing difficulties while wearing PPE kits for long hours.
PAPR is in the form of a hood, which holds a filtered ambient air space for the wearer to breath. A major advantage is the absence of breathing resistance usually seen in unpowered negative-pressure respirators like the N95 masks, according to an official press release.
The product ‘Decshel-PAPR’ developed by Dr Praveen Pai, a public health specialist and Decshel Scientifics, can be a solution to this crisis faced by the healthcare providers, the release said. The powered respirator provides filtered air for inhalation using an approved air filter (virus filter / HME filter used in ventilators and anaesthesia machines) and expels the expired air using a continuous exhaust ventilation through another filter. Decshel Protective Headgear proposes to make it available in the market at a cost-effective price with a mission to support thousands of doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers, the release added.
PTI
