Helping Infants Breathe: Design of a Bubble Biphasic Pap System

Purpose: Neonatal respiratory distress is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, resulting in over 1 million deaths annually. The majority of these deaths occur in low to middle income countries. Bubble CPAP (bCPAP) is a simple and effective therapy and is widely used for infants with mild respiratory distress. In low resource settings, advanced support for infants with moderate to severe respiratory distress is limited by cost, technical expertise and the absence of reliable electricity. There is an urgent need for safe, inexpensive, and simple technologies to provide respiratory support for these infants. Methods: A traditional bCPAP …