Non-invasive ventilation for newborns in transit
Respiratory compromise is one of the leading causes worldwide of neonatal death. Traditional newborn respiratory support is designed for neonatal intensive care units (NICU) whereas in many low- and middle-income countries most of the births are happening outside a centre with access to an NICU. Access to healthcare is a key part of the Academy’s strategic goals of creating an inclusiveociety. This project is one of the world’s only breathing support system for newborns that can work without supporting infrastructure and delivers therapy anywhere including during transport.
A life-saving engineer
Nitesh K Jangir is an accomplished engineer with a varied background spanning diverse industries, including defence, industrial automation, and medical devices. As a co-founder of Coeo Labs and InnAccel, his work focuses on developing medical devices tailored to emergency and critical care situations, with a particular emphasis on child and maternal care. His innovative creations, such as Saans (a low cost, infrastructure interdependent non-invasive ventilation system offering respiratory support for newborns regardless of care setting) and VAPCare (an automated secretions and oral hygiene management system to prevent deadly ICU-acquired infection: ventilator associated pneumonia), have been successfully implemented in multiple countries, leading to improved healthcare outcomes. These innovations have already enabled caregivers to treat more than 30,000 patients.
Nitesh has received specialised training in health tech innovation through the Stanford India Biodesign Program, as well as technology and innovation management through his Chevening Fellowship at the University of Oxford. He recognises the importance of international collaboration and plans to use the support of the DIA programme to make a success of this project.
Providing breathing support for newborns in transit
Traditional newborn respiratory support is designed for use in NICUs, whereas in many low- and middle-income countries most of the births are happening outside a centre with access to NICU. This project plans to upgrade Saans for use while a newborn is in transit – a regular occurrence in rural regions. It will be the world’s only breathing support system for newborns that can work without supporting infrastructure and delivers therapy anywhere, including during transportation. Enabling better healthcare supports the Academy’s strategic goal of creating a more inclusive society.
“Support from the experts in this segment is essential. The Academy has people who have done this work multiple times successfully so mentorship from them is of immense value.”
The DIA-supported project will add extra features and modes to the current Saans device, making it suitable for the transport use. One particular challenge is that in transport there is a variability in the pressure and flow delivered by the oxygen cylinder. The system will control pressure independently to work with the variable pressure and flows from oxygen inputs. The goal is to create a regulatory approved product that is ready for commercial launch.
Through collaboration with Dr Rajajaya Ram at the University of Oxford, Nitesh has established a strong clinical board that also includes St Johns Medical Centre in Bangalore, Harvard Medical School, and MUST Uganda. Supporting the DIA programme objectives of building international networks, this board will help produce high-quality data to support the product. He has also brought in commercial partners MedTive Innovations on the mechanical product design and manufacturing, and TUV Rheinland India as a regulatory compliance testing partner.
The DIA programme will support the manufacturing of two prototypes that will enable compliance testing to take place. Further on, Nitesh plans to run an initial pilot project to deploy the technology in the state of Karntaka. This would then be expanded to five more states within two years leading to further deployment in all states over the next seven years.