About Medspray:
Medspray develops and manufactures spray nozzles based on chips with micron-sized pores that can create a spray when liquid (e.g. water, medication, fragrance etc.) is pushed through. This technology enables the possibility to tune the spray (droplet size, liquid flow rate and spray aesthetics) to the needs and requirements of the application.
Background: Breathing is an essential function that is required to live, it removes carbon dioxide from the body and it makes sure that every system in the body is supplied with oxygen. Normal breathing happens through the nose. On its way to the lungs the air passes through the nasal cavity and the throat where the air is humidified and warmed up such that it enters the lungs in the right conditions. In case people need breathing support, either invasive or non- invasive, this natural humidification and warming of the air is not that efficient o completely bypassed. Under-humidified air can lead to severe complications in the mouth, throat and lungs. To prevent this the air that is supplied to the patient needs to be humidified and warmed up. Current humidification systems work only optimal in a very small range of air flows and therefore do not work properly for certain applications, like neonatal and high flow applications. Often
nebulisers like the Aerogen Solo device are used to administer medication to the patient. However, there is little known about the efficiency of this method of medication delivery with the current humidification
systems.
About the assigment:
Medspray has built a working proof of concept setup to show that the Medspray spray technology can offer a unique solution to overcome the limitations of the current humidification systems. This setup has already been characterised, demonstrating that the concept is very promising. However, much optimisation is still required before it can be turned into an actual product.
The first goal of the internship is to optimise and characterise specific aspects of the proof of concept setup, such as the spray nozzle selection, air flow pressure drop over the system and internal volume of the spray chamber. Starting in the second half of 2022, the current proof of concept setup will gradually evolve into a more commercially feasible prototype, which will also need to be characterised (different liquid pump systems, different air heating systems). Tests will be performed with the use of an actual mechanical ventilator that is normally used in the intensive care, and a range of flow, temperature and relative humidity sensors already available.
The second goal is to characterise the efficiency of medication nebulisation in a breathing circuit with different humidity levels, at different positions in the breathing circuit. Different medication nebulisation devices like a Medspray device and an Aerogen Solo device can be characterised in combination with
different humidification settings.