Battery Life Advantage of the Conformal Vest Ventilator

My ability to breathe naturally is highly compromised due to my ALS. I am also an inventor and I have turned my attention to creating a device that helps me breathe easier. I call my invention the Conformal Vest Ventilator (CVV).

The key innovations of the CVV are that this device can be worn like a vest and is a negative pressure ventilator as opposed to a positive pressure ventilator. The CVV causes the lungs to expand and suck air in rather than having air blown into the lungs as is normally the case today, using a positive pressure ventilator.

The mechanism by which the vest works is that there are specially engineered elastomeric tubes surrounding the chest and when those tubes are inflated they get longer; a low-level vacuum between the vest and the skin pulls the chest wall out so as to create negative pressure ventilation. This is similar to an iron lung except far more portable, affordable, and discreet.

The energy efficiency of the CVV is much higher than the existing methods of providing ventilation. This will make it more portable than the industry-leading Trilogy 100 ventilator from Philips Respironics, which uses about 5 watts to drive ventilation.

Table 1 shows energy consumption estimates for the CVV in two different modes of operation. In either case, the energy consumption is predicted to be less than 1 watt, 5 times better than the Trilogy 100. The Trilogy 100 contains two 66 watt-hour batteries, and I am able to be out and about for up to seven hours with that much stored energy on board. My new CVV design will improve the battery life while also reducing the battery weight compared to the Trilogy 100.

I am excited about the partners I have drawn into this venture already. Most of them I will keep confidential, but I can mention my brother Robert. He is my coinventor on certain aspects of the CVV, an MD, an emergency room doctor, and a great advisor. He’s very much improved my original concept for the CVV.

I did not understand the biology of the lungs. Robert, on the other hand, has had to treat sucking wounds and he knew about the pleural sac in a sort of visceral way. In order to save the life of someone with a sucking wound, the ER doctor must evacuate the space between the inner and outer pleural membranes. Once you do that the person can probably breathe again.

Robert immediately saw that my original idea that the vest would be adhered to the skin could be improved. He suggested instead to use the body’s own method of linking the thoracic cavity to the lungs via a mild vacuum.

On a personal note, I am more effective now as an inventor and an entrepreneur than I have ever been before in my life. Although most of my body is paralyzed due to my ALS, my mind is sharper than ever.

During the last week, I completed my international PCT patent application with the help of my partner and CIO for Rethink Technologies, Jake Wenzel.