Exovent Negative Pressure Ventilator Collaboration

Illustrious Healthcare Solutions are excited to report on the work of their strategic partners Portsmouth Aviation in the Exovent project.

In the past few years, Illustrious Healthcare Solutions’ (IHS) strategic partner, Portsmouth Aviation, has joined forces with Exovent to produce a remarkable product: Exovent negative pressure ventilator (NPV) designed to provide crucial aid to individuals grappling with respiratory disease. This collaboration revolutionises patient care through engineering excellence. Recently, Portsmouth Aviation has named 42 Technology (42T) as its strategic development partner to facilitate the introduction of its groundbreaking device to the market. This strategic alliance promises to accelerate the journey of this innovative technology to those who need it most.

Exovent, a collaborative consortium comprising medical experts, scientists, engineers, academics, and manufacturers, emerged in response to the UK Government's urgent call for innovative solutions to combat COVID-19. Since then, the group have evolved, exploring various respiratory diseases and the ways this product can combat them. Recognising the transformative potential of NPV, Exovent aims to harness this innovation in addressing respiratory diseases on a global scale.

One of the standout features of these negative pressure ventilators is their non-invasive nature. Unlike traditional ventilators, which require the insertion of tubes into a patient's airway, these cutting-edge devices offer a gentler approach. The Exovent NPV system is being developed as a compact and lightweight device designed to encompass the patient's torso. This breakthrough not only ensures comfort but also allows patients to remain conscious, eat, drink, and even engage in meaningful conversations with clinicians and their loved ones during treatment. This marks a significant step forward in enhancing both the physical and emotional well-being of those undergoing respiratory therapy.

In the realm of medical treatments, NPV stands as a life-saving therapy with a rich history spanning over a century, demonstrating effectiveness in diverse clinical scenarios like addressing acute respiratory failure in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients and neuromuscular disorders. Despite its historical success, NPV fell into obscurity since the 1960s when smaller positive pressure devices took centre stage in respiratory care.

Recent scientific and clinical studies suggest a renaissance for NPV, especially in the form of modern devices designed with a focus on patient comfort and ease of use. These innovations, particularly those featuring a torso-only cabinet, offer a patient-friendly alternative to traditional Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) systems that typically involve mask-wearing discomfort. Furthermore, the introduction of non-invasive NPV systems brings the potential to avoid positive pressure side effects leading to further deterioration of a patient's condition, potentially circumventing the need for more invasive interventions like intubation and mechanical ventilation with a Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) system. This rekindled interest in NPV underscores its renewed significance in contemporary healthcare.

Portsmouth Aviation are thrilled with our new strategic development partner. Managing director Simon Escott states:

“42 Technology will play a pivotal role in developing the control system for the Exovent ventilator, and their medical device engineering and regulatory experience will be essential in helping us to advance it into initial production and first clinical trials.

42 Technology’s appointment follows a complete review of the development programme and series of improvements that we decided to make to the initial designs for the new ventilator.  We have worked closely with the team at Exovent to improve key aspects including the usability and aesthetics of the patient enclosure, noise levels and the seals around the patient.  We have also modified the design so units can be more easily and cost-effectively manufactured using our existing in-house production technologies and teams.” 

This next step in the development of the pioneering NPV, marks the evolution of the product and the importance of the collaborations that have made its production possible.