Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 21 (PTI) A novel powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) that will help healthcare personnel on COVID-19 duty overcome brething difficulties faced while wearning PPE kits for long hours continously has been designed and developed under a centrally-funded project.

It has been developed under the NIDHI PRAYAS funding scheme of the Department of Science and Technology, through TIMed, the Technology Business Incubator of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST) here, an official release said on Wednesday.

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Healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, who have to wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits for long hours face difficulty in breathing, besides there was high temperature inside as these lack provision for air exchange through them.

PAPR are usually in the form of a hood, which holds a filtered ambient air space for the wearer to breath, the release said.

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A major advantage is the absence of breathing resistance usually seen in unpowered negative-pressure respirators like the N95 masks,it added.

The intelligently designed product "Decshel-PAPR" developed by Dr.Praveen Pai, a public health specialist and Decshel Scientifics, can be a solution to this crisis faced by the health care providers, the release said.

The powered respirator provides filtered air for inhalation using an approved air filter (virus filter / HME filter used in ventilators and anaesthesia machines) and expels the expired air using a continuous exhaust ventilation through another filter. Decshel Protective Headgear proposes to make it available in the market at a cost-effective price with a mission to support thousands of doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers, the release added.

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