RSSAn extremely affordable device for better asthma care (Better breathing with origami)
Better breathing with origami -
More than 8 million children in Mexico suffer from asthma. These children and their families travel up to several hours to urban hospitals where they endure long waits to get relief from acute asthma attacks. More troubling still, these families are sent home from the hospital without the means to prevent further attacks. This all but ensures a vicious cycle of frightening and expensive returns to the hospital, and leads to a national asthma fatality rate that is the 8th highest in the world (1.45%).Respira!: An Extremely Affordable Device for Better Asthma Care - Link.The physicians in Health Centers, which provide nearby, free primary care to uninsured Mexicans, can recognize asthma and have access to the medication necessary to treat asthma attacks, but they lack effective, affordable devices to deliver that medication. Mexican Health Centers are stocked with asthma inhalers, which inexpensively create aerosol particles of medication, but these devices are not sufficient to deliver the medication to a child's lungs. Successful use of an inhaler requires that a child coordinate a deep breath with discharging the inhaler. This is challenging for a young child, particularly one gasping in the midst of an asthma attack. As a result, medication does not reach the lungs but is instead absorbed in the mouth and throat, where it causes undesirable systemic side effects.
To overcome these problems, inhalers are used in combination with a device commonly called a "spacer." A spacer is a chamber that attaches to an inhaler, captures the discharged medication and holds it until the patient inhales it. In spite of their effectiveness, these devices are unavailable in Mexican Health Centers due to their cost (~ $50 plus distribution). Using paper and a precise system of cuts and folds, we have designed a spacer that can be produced for approximately 25 cents, a cost reduction of more than 99%. Furthermore, the device can be distributed as a flat sheet to be folded into a usable form on-site, so hundreds can be sent for the cost of a stamp.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 21, 2007 07:00 PM
Paper Crafts |
Permalink
| Comments (2)
| Email This |
| Digg this!
Recent Entries
- Best of CRAFT
- 10 Things 3D printers can do now
- How to nap
- GeekDad at Maker Faire
- Sugarcube sculptures
- Set your clocks back it's Standard time again...
- Pedal to a cold drink...
- Austin Event: DJ/Laptop Battle
- Single-Wheeled Bike Trailer
- Gear heart
Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
| Posted by: Fub on August 22, 2007 at 1:38 AM |
This is the kind of 'technology' that will save the world.
| Posted by: cyenobite on August 22, 2007 at 9:56 AM |
Great Story! Thanks for posting PT. More posts on how makers are helping humanity please :)
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Features and more @ MAKE!
Stop by the Maker Shed store and check out THE place for open source hardware, Arduino & Arduino accessories, electronic kits, science kits, smart stuff for kids, back issues of MAKE & CRAFT, box sets, books, robots, kits from Japan and more.
Add MAKE to iGoogle - GoogleGoogle.
Add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.
Add MAKE on Twitter.
Add MAKE on FriendFeed & the MAKE room.
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!
Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Makezine authors!
Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311
Twitter / AIM
Gareth Branwyn
Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Collin Cunningham
Marc de Vinck
Kip Kay
Luke Iseman
Patti Schiendelman
Becky Stern
Mike Dixon
Peter Horvath(intern)
Current Podcast
The Best of Maker Faire Austin 2008
Check out all the fun and excitement at this year's Maker Faire in Austin, Texas. People from all over the world came to experience this amazing event. Take a look at some of the highlights and make plans to...
More...
Leave a comment