Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
This Breathing Device Sucks the Alcohol Out of You
No, it's not meant to cure your hangover, it's for life-threatening alcohol poisoning.
By Fabienne Lang
November 13, 2020
ClearMate breathing apparatusUniversity Health Network
You can now literally breathe out alcohol from your system, and it'll potentially save you from life-threatening alcohol intoxication.
A team of scientists from the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, has created the ClearMate device, which is a simple breathing apparatus that could save lives.
People hyperventilate safely into the device, and it helps speed up the process of clearing toxic alcohol levels in the body.
The study was published in Scientific Reports on Thursday.
SEE ALSO: CDC REPORTS BINGE DRINKING BECOMING MORE EXCESSIVE ESPECIALLY AMONG MIDDLE-AGED MEN
The liver and lungs team
You can largely thank your liver for processing the alcohol you consume. However, when you've had too much alcohol and your liver can't metabolize it in time for the rest of your body, you can face serious and even life-threatening conditions.
https://interestingengineering.com/...&utm_content=13112020&traffic_source=Connatix
Your lungs, however, also play a little role in this process by naturally eliminating alcohol from your body, too. You know how you can sometimes smell alcohol on yours or others' breath? That's because blood saturated with alcohol reaches your lungs as it's trying to replenish its oxygen levels. So some of this alcohol is then exhaled, along with carbon dioxide.
This breathing process can be sped up by hyperventilating, but that usually leads a person to pass out. The new device essentially recreates this hyperventilating so as to speed up the process without having the person pass out.
The study's author and the device's inventor, Dr. Joseph Fisher, said that ClearMate keeps the person safe, especially when passed out from overconsumption of alcohol. All the person has to do is wear a gas mask that's connected to a supply of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
"With each breath, it is designed to allow the normal amount of carbon dioxide to escape and any excess is returned on the very next breath" explained Fisher, an anesthesiologist and senior researcher at University Health Network to Gizmodo.
"This is all done in a simple way by a mechanical valve so it is foolproof—without needing electronics or computers."
So far, the team tested its device on five volunteers, which showed the device to work faster and better than if the body did it on its own. Even though this sample test size is small, ClearMate has already been recognized by the Food and Drug Administration to be used in emergency rooms in the U.S., per Gizmodo.
"It's a very basic, low-tech device that could be made anywhere in the world: no electronics, no computers or filters are required," said Dr. Fisher. "It's almost inexplicable why we didn't try this decades ago."
-Interesting Engineering
No, it's not meant to cure your hangover, it's for life-threatening alcohol poisoning.
By Fabienne Lang
November 13, 2020
ClearMate breathing apparatusUniversity Health Network
You can now literally breathe out alcohol from your system, and it'll potentially save you from life-threatening alcohol intoxication.
A team of scientists from the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, has created the ClearMate device, which is a simple breathing apparatus that could save lives.
People hyperventilate safely into the device, and it helps speed up the process of clearing toxic alcohol levels in the body.
The study was published in Scientific Reports on Thursday.
SEE ALSO: CDC REPORTS BINGE DRINKING BECOMING MORE EXCESSIVE ESPECIALLY AMONG MIDDLE-AGED MEN
The liver and lungs team
You can largely thank your liver for processing the alcohol you consume. However, when you've had too much alcohol and your liver can't metabolize it in time for the rest of your body, you can face serious and even life-threatening conditions.
https://interestingengineering.com/...&utm_content=13112020&traffic_source=Connatix
Your lungs, however, also play a little role in this process by naturally eliminating alcohol from your body, too. You know how you can sometimes smell alcohol on yours or others' breath? That's because blood saturated with alcohol reaches your lungs as it's trying to replenish its oxygen levels. So some of this alcohol is then exhaled, along with carbon dioxide.
This breathing process can be sped up by hyperventilating, but that usually leads a person to pass out. The new device essentially recreates this hyperventilating so as to speed up the process without having the person pass out.
The study's author and the device's inventor, Dr. Joseph Fisher, said that ClearMate keeps the person safe, especially when passed out from overconsumption of alcohol. All the person has to do is wear a gas mask that's connected to a supply of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
"With each breath, it is designed to allow the normal amount of carbon dioxide to escape and any excess is returned on the very next breath" explained Fisher, an anesthesiologist and senior researcher at University Health Network to Gizmodo.
"This is all done in a simple way by a mechanical valve so it is foolproof—without needing electronics or computers."
So far, the team tested its device on five volunteers, which showed the device to work faster and better than if the body did it on its own. Even though this sample test size is small, ClearMate has already been recognized by the Food and Drug Administration to be used in emergency rooms in the U.S., per Gizmodo.
"It's a very basic, low-tech device that could be made anywhere in the world: no electronics, no computers or filters are required," said Dr. Fisher. "It's almost inexplicable why we didn't try this decades ago."
-Interesting Engineering
