5 Medical Devices Revolutionizing Respiratory Care Delivery

Emerging as tailored solutions for respiratory health management, advanced respiratory medical devices are providing clinical benefits and convenience to both care seekers and deliverers.

FREMONT, CA: Advancements in technology make it possible deliver care in ways that were unimaginable previously. With chronic respiratory diseases increasing, healthcare professionals are working with the help of smart medical devices to generate new treatment strategies. The combination of professional skills and technical know-how is changing the landscape of respiratory care. Here is more on the latest medical devices that are powering respiratory care management.

•​ Respiratory Function Analyzer

Respiratory function analyzers help medical practitioners measure the performance of the patients' respiratory system. The analyzer can measure the ventilation, diffusion, and distribution of gas in the lungs. Care providers are using the device to help evaluate the patient with conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. They can also measure parameters including functional residual capacity, diffusing capacity of lungs for carbon monoxide, and airway resistance. The analyzers also provide a baseline for ventilator's function to identify respiratory impairments. It can be used in a setting of pulmonary medicine and respiratory therapy.

•​ Inhalation Drug Delivery Device

During the past years, respiratory drug delivery technology advanced substantially with the help of several innovations in spacers and holding chambers, nebulizers and compressors, peak flow meters, and other device technologies. The process is getting more magnitude as these developments contribute to respiratory health management. These inhalation drug delivery devices offer tremendous opportunities for medical practitioners to enhance drug therapies systematically and use advanced drug delivery systems.

•​ Alternative Lung Ventilators

Alternative lung ventilators recreate important features of structures in the lung, which could eventually be a safer alternative to the specific type of respiratory machines used to treat patients whose lungs have failed. It is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation that entails drawing the patient's blood and running it through equipment that removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen to it before pumping the blood to the patient's body. It is used as a life-saving measure if mechanical ventilation is impossible. Undoubtedly, it has the potential to revolutionize how doctors take care of patients who have acute respiratory failure.

•​ Airway Clearance Device

This device is used in airway clearance therapy to manipulate airflow, aid the mobilization of tracheal, bronchial phlegm cephalad, and facilitate evacuation by coughing. Medical experts suggest airway clearance device for patients whose function of the mucociliary escalator is altered and whose ability to mobilize and expectorate airways secretions is compromised. Airway clearance is now considered as one of the cornerstones of therapy for the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases.

• Expiratory Pressure Device

Expiratory pressure therapy is introduced as an alternative to conventional physiotherapy. The device is considered to allow more air to enter peripheral airways to allow pressurized air to move towards larger airways where they can quickly be expelled and to prevent alveoli from collapsing. Care providers can use this to provide therapy for patients as it is among the smart treatment strategies to expedite respiratory wellness.

There is an increasing need for straightforward, and new diagnostic aids, better monitoring and treatment technologies for respiratory wellness. A plethora of technology-based respiratory health management strategies have evolved over the last decade. Monitoring and treating respiratory conditions by healthcare professionals has positively impacted with this evolution. There is an enormous potential for the use of innovative technology to assist in the provision of better care for those with chronic respiratory illness. The above medical devices open a golden opportunity for respiratory care deliverers in the coming years.