Virgin Orbit is developing a ventilator to help in the fight against coronavirus

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The Virgin Orbit team is consulting with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC), led by the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University of Texas at Austin to develop its bridge ventilator. Dr Brian Wong, from UCI, explained: “We face a slow-motion Dunkirk, and getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives. The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits, and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible.

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Virgin Orbit designs new ventilator as part of Virgin Group’s efforts to combat coronavirus

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Virgin Orbit designs new ventilator as part of Virgin Group’s efforts to combat coronavirus

Virgin Orbit worked with physicians and medical-device experts at the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University of Texas at Austin, as part of the Bridge Ventilator Consortium, a group formed recently to quickly find a solution to the shortage of ventilators during the pandemic.  … “Getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives,” Dr. Brian J.F. Wong, an assistant chairman of otolaryngology (the study of the ears, nose and throat) at UCI who is a part of the Bridge Ventilator Consortium, said in the statement. “The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible.”

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A California rocket-maker will start producing simple ventilators

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“This one is going to basically be for all the patients who need a ventilator but do not need a top-line ventilator,” Dr. Govind Rajan, the director of clinical affairs at the UC Irvine Medical Center, says. “That will free up all these top-line ventilators for the sickest of the sick.”

Modern ventilators can get fairly complicated, incorporating sensors to monitor the patient and multiple settings to configure the machines to specific health needs.

To help alleviate the pressure, a group of physicians and biomedical device experts hopes to start producing “bridge” ventilators in the coming weeks. These are simpler devices, akin to the handheld “ambu” bags used by paramedics to give oxygen to patients over brief periods of time, while in transit or before they have been intubated.

Just over a week ago, he and a team including Brian J.F. Wong, a UCI plastic surgeon who works in medical device development, and Thomas Milner, a University of Texas, Austin, biomedical engineer, kickstarted the the Bridge Ventilator Consortium. The ad hoc group is working to address the equipment shortages with an open source design that relies on parts that can be sourced at stores such as Home Depot or AutoZone.

Read full Quartz article.

2 Southern California doctors work to get more ventilators where they’re needed

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One of the deadliest aspects of coronavirus is how it attacks the lungs. That’s why ventilators are so important. Manufacturers are struggling to meet the demand amid the nationwide shortage. Two local doctors are taking matters into their own hands.

Andrew Frankel and Brian Wong are both plastic surgeons in Southern California.

Doctor Frankle is trying to organize a nationwide network to get ventilators that might be sitting idle in private practices into hospitals that need them.

Doctor Wong — who’s also a biomedical engineer at UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic — is leading a team that’s trying to create a lower-cost ventilator for people who don’t need the most intensive care.

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UCI-led study shows emerging rhinoplasty technique improves appearance and breathing

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While beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder, breathing is an agreed upon necessity. A new study reveals how an emerging technique in rhinoplasty does more than improve physical appearance.

Brian J.F. Wong, MD, PhD, professor and director of the Division of Facial Plastic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, has perfected a nuanced technique called the Articulated Alar Rim Graft (AARG). Designed to provide stability to the nasal structure and improves the attractiveness of the nasal tip, the technique also increases air flow.

In a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Facial Plastic Surgery, Wong explored the effectiveness of the AARG for improving nasal airway function.

Titled, “Functional Outcomes, Quantitative Morphometry, and Aesthetic Analysis of Articulated Alar Rim Grafts in Septorhinoplasty,” the study examined 90 patients who underwent a rhinoplasty procedure where an AARG technique was used.

“I approach cosmetic operations of the nose like a civil engineer and an architect,” said Wong. “Using the AARG technique, I am able to address deformities some patients have in their nasal tip. These deformities often prevent them from breathing properly.”

Results from the study indicate that by using the AARG technique, Wong and his team were able to make a major improvement in a person’s ability to breathe, while also improving the asthestics of the nose structure itself.

When patients seek surgical help to correct or reconstruct the nose, it is often due to the length, or the width of the nasal tip. Changing or refining the appearance of the nasal tip is a common problem, but can be a difficult to correct surgically. The AARG is a new surgical technique which corrects the nasal shape and gives it structure.

Wong and other UCI researchers have also developed a numerical system that classifies the shape of the nose, with the ultimate goal to have the tip of the nose resemble a unilateral triangle.

“We have for the first time defined a ‘number on beauty’,” said Wong, who is also a professor of biomedical engineering at UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. “The structural stability afforded by these grafts gives us a very elegant way of addressing a deformity.”

Wong has given more than 50 lectures on the AARG technique and has additional lectures scheduled in Columbia, Taiwan, Netherlands, Miami, and China.