Pictured left to right: Frede Jensen, product development manager at Europlaz, with Rory O’Keeffe, commercial director at EuroplazA medical innovation - developed in the UK - is promising to help improve neonatal care and save the lives of more babies born prematurely or in distress. Chelmsford-based
Europlaz, which has more than 40 years’ experience in manufacturing products for the medical device, diagnostics and life sciences sector, has come up with an integrated ‘sidestream’ CO
2 sampling port that is joined to the side of its existing neonatal flow sensor (see picture below).
The company is currently investing heavily in ramping up production for the new neonatal flow sensor with sampling port, with a brand-new robotic welder arriving shortly. This is the central element to a modern production cell that uses vision controlled micro-robotic wire welding to deliver highly consistent sensor quality, performance and reliability.
Frede Jensen, product development manager at Europlaz, who has extensive design, development and manufacturing experience in neonatal products, said: “This latest piece of equipment is very impressive, with the robot capable of welding a 13µm precious metal wire (which is a third of the thickness of a human hair) to a surface smaller than a pin head with 5µm precision. Importantly, it gives us the repeatable quality that we know is required and the confidence that our sensors will deliver accurate readings time and time again. We will also have the option to increase capacity, with the genuine expectation that we can supply 500,000 sensors every year.”
The new patented sampling port enables clinicians to follow the correct protocols of using both lung protective volume control and CO
2 monitoring, giving a baby the best chance of survival and limiting the possibility of longer-term conditions, such as cerebral palsy or lung disease. It achieves this by combining the sensor for measuring flow volume with the optimally placed sampling port for safely extracting gas for tidal flow CO
2 monitoring, reducing the ‘dead space’ found in existing products and ensuring more accurate readings.
Europlaz has been developing this innovation for years and believes now is the time for ventilator manufacturers to consider switching to this neonatal flow sensor to save lives, reduce costs to the NHS and avoid expensive litigation.
Mr Jensen continued: “Momentum is definitely growing, with two global manufacturers adopting our new flow sensors and trials about to begin at a famous London hospital. This will provide the clinical evidence that many of the ventilator manufacturers have been asking for. We are dealing with the tiniest of lives, so it is imperative that we give clinical teams the best possible technology to help them do their jobs. This is exactly what this innovation does, with the side sampling port delivering the stable and accurate readings of CO
2 being exhaled that they need to better inform the care of the child, and the level of ventilation support required.”
He added: “Europlaz has been manufacturing neonatal flow sensors for more than 10 years and we have sold over one million to date – all without the sampling port. This must change, and we believe that when one hospital or manufacturer commits to it, the rest will follow. It just makes too much sense not to. Why not embrace a product that gives you greater clarity, greater control and a greater chance of saving a baby’s life? There is also a financial element to it as well, with 60% of the NHS’ Resolution’s £9 billion liability budget spent in 2018/19 dealing with cases involving maternity care.”
The innovation being added to the neonatal sensor is just one of the advancements Europlaz is currently working on in this space. It is also a few weeks away from starting exciting trials of its own range of neonatal ventilation monitors at four major UK hospitals.