A pneumothorax is a collapsed lung caused by air leaking into the space between the lung and chest wall. When that air cannot leave the pleural space, it causes a tension pneumothorax – air pressure buildup compresses the blood vessels carrying blood back to the heart. This serious condition causes cardiac arrest within minutes, and today preventable deaths occur after trauma due to tension pneumothorax.
With the critical nature of a tension pneumothorax, EMTs, first-responders and emergency personnel need every tool available to prevent the condition from becoming fatal. Unfortunately, even the gold standard for care within the healthcare profession leads to guesswork, human error, and preventable deaths. For decades, emergency medical providers have been trained to insert a needle and listen for a “gush of air,” an indicator that they have correctly placed the needle and prevented a tension pneumothorax. While that method might work under ideal conditions, most emergency responders work in the back of an ambulance, in trauma areas, and within other noisy on-site conditions. Because of this, the “gold standard” auditory check often becomes guesswork at best.
At Pneumeric, they are on a mission to elevate the level of emergency care with a revolutionary breakthrough that is poised to transform healthcare for the better. With the groundbreaking Capnospot, emergency providers can now see their results visually – eliminating guesswork, improving patient outcomes, and instantly reducing the number of preventable deaths in the field.
Founded by Dr. John Aho, Pneumeric is transforming pneumothorax treatment, developing an essential medical device that EMTs and emergency personnel across the country can immediately use. The Capnospot provides visual detection for needle decompression, elevating the standard of care with a clear, binary “yes” or “no” color change that instantly detects the “gush of air” escaping the patient’s chest wall. Designed and developed at a leading healthcare organization, Capnospot has already shown remarkable pre-clinical and clinical results.
For emergency responders, the Capnospot provides instantly recognizable visual detection, which means they can provide better and faster care when it is needed most. For anyone in need of needle decompression, the chance for human error will be dramatically reduced – potentially eliminated entirely.
“If you are in the public and get picked up by an ambulance and need needle decompression, the paramedics don’t currently have objective evidence about whether the procedure worked,” Dr. Aho explains. “So, if I get shot or stabbed or suffer some trauma, the person picking me up is going to be using what is essentially a medical straw. It is so loud in that ambulance that they can’t hear a gush of air, and that’s scary.”
With Capnospot, paramedics can provide essential medical care without having to wonder (or assume) that their methods have worked.
“You get immediate feedback that you have done the procedure correctly, so you don’t have to guess,” Dr. Aho says. “We remove doubt and subjective perspective and replace it with clear, objective data.”
Pneumeric has already received funding to continue their research and development, with plans to bring the product to market – and ultimately place it in every ambulance and emergency room in the United States. They are conducting significant, life-saving work with Capnospot. In doing so, Pneumeric is on the precipice of altering healthcare throughout the country.
To learn more about Pneumeric’s revolutionary approach to needle thoracostomy, visit www.pneumeric-medical.com.
