Wideblue accelerates production of a groundbreaking new medical device

Wideblue, a new product design and development company based in Glasgow, is accelerating production of a groundbreaking new medical device which could help the NHS quickly discover which COVID-19 patients are deteriorating and need a ventilator.

N-Tidal, the device developed for Wideblue client Cambridge Respiratory Innovations (CRI), is a simple-to-use, fully automated, small battery powered personal capnometer which is used to measure the amount of CO₂ in exhaled breath during normal relaxed breathing.

The changes in CO₂ concentration as a patient breathes in and out through the device are measured and can be used to assess the health of a patient’s lungs and general condition.

Amid a shortage of ventilators, the device could enable clinicians to prioritise their use based on firm data. The device may also be useful to track progress of patients as they recover after ventilator use.  

It is hoped the CE-marked N-Tidal device will start trials in NHS and US hospitals within two or three weeks, opening the door for a roll out across the UK and potentially globally.

Russell Overend, Wideblue’s managing director, said: “Wideblue has made 200 devices already and has a purchase order for another 1,000 units which will be manufactured over the next few weeks. These devices were destined for clinical trials with COPD and Asthma patients but these devices are now being reconfigured and reallocated to Covid-19 patients. We are very hopeful these N-Tidal devices can be deployed in hospitals within the next couple of weeks”. 

CRI is currently working alongside hospital trusts to generate protocols for use and is seeking ethics committee approval to start trials.

N-Tidal was originally developed to be used by patients with respiratory related diseases such as asthma, COPD and Congestive Heart Failure for hospital and home monitoring.