Shanghai,
I hope this helps............
KDKA-TV
CoughAssist Device Helps Clear Lungs
Mar 9, 2004 5:14 pm US/Eastern
Pittsburgh (KDKA) People with weak breathing muscles can have trouble clearing secretions from their lungs; but a new medical device is keeping them out of the hospital -- just by helping them cough.
The cough assist device, which uses pressure in and out of the lungs to mimic a cough, is changing the lives of thousands of sick children with Lou Gehrig's disease and muscular dystrophy.
Charlie Dakman has muscular dystrophy, a disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. When he gets a cold and starts to cough, his mother says she can't help feeling scared. "You want to do something right away for him, you know," Bernadine Dakman explains, "because you're afraid he's not gonna breathe."
The last time he came to the emergency room, Dakman was given a machine called the cough assist device.
"So this person who developed it took essentially a vacuum cleaner motor and put a switch on... it blows air into the lungs and then very quickly pulls the air out again -- carrying with it mucus; and it is a way of recreating one's own natural cough." -- Dr. Jonathan Finder, Children's Pulmonology
Though it has been commercially available for about ten years, Pediatric Neuromuscular Specialist Henry Wessel believes that more people could be helped.
"It's been slow to catch on... The problems are the same in children and adults, and this has been a tremendous help for the adults as well, although our focus is on the kids." -- Dr. Henry Wessel, Children's Hospital
It is not meant for people with primary lung problems, such as cystic fibrosis, since they have strong muscles; and the device works even better if parents squeeze their child's chest in time with the machine.
Bernadine Dakman says the hardest part for her son is getting used to the device. "He doesn't like the way it feels -- he doesn't like the mask part of it."
It has been slow to catch on because it's revamped old technology, and insurance doesn't always cover it in a timely manner. One device costs $4,000 to $5,000.
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CoughAssist™ MI-E
The CoughAssist MI-E noninvasively helps patients clear bronchial secretions when they can’t cough for themselves. From J.H. Emerson and Co., the CoughAssist is a safe, comfortable way to reduce the risk of airway damage and respiratory complications. Helps patients by enhancing or replacing their natural removal of bronchial secretions with the gradual application of positive pressure to the airway followed by a rapid shift to negative pressure. The slow inhale/rapid exhale airflow simulates the natural coughing process while avoiding the potential problems associated with more invasive procedures. Available in a manual or automatic model.
www.respironics.com/product_library/invoke.cfm?objectid=CD13FD79-8ABE-4124-AD8CB7B7914F4A64&method=displayWe will keep her in prayer
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