A team of researchers from the University of Warsaw and Jagiellonian University is finalising work on a new device to help treat respiratory disorders in premature newborns.
The invention is a miniaturised endoscope combined with a probe and drug dispenser, which will facilitate the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants.
The creators of the invention are: Prof. Ryszard Buczyński from the Faculty of Physics at the Jagiellonian University, who is responsible for the image transmission technology in the miniaturised device, Prof. Mateusz Jagła from the Children’s University Hospital of the Jagiellonian University’s Collegium Medicum, Prof. Adam Wojciechowski from the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science at the Jagiellonian University.
The devices currently used in the treatment of premature infants do not have sufficiently miniaturised dimensions. They also do not enable image transmission, as a result of which the drug may be administered to the wrong place (e.g. the stomach).
“Our invention uses a proprietary method based on miniaturised optical fibres, which we integrate into very thin fibres. Inside one of each there can be up to several thousand autonomous optical fibres, making it possible to transmit an image from the miniaturised fibre tip to the camera and further to the screen of the device. This is not an image of outstanding resolution, but for the purposes of diagnostics or therapy using endoscopes it is fully sufficient,” Prof. Buczyński explained.
The team from the UW and the Jagiellonian University wants to commission an endoscope equipped not only with video transmission, but also with a microscopic nozzle that will turn liquid medication into an aerosol. As the researchers claim, administering such an aerosol to the right place in a child’s respiratory system is likely to increase the effectiveness of the treatment and the effect of the drug.
More details are available on the UW’s Centre for Technology and Knowledge Transfer website>>.