The Smallwood Device

May 12th

In Craig’s final days, he was working tirelessly on a low cost EPAP (Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure) device that could be used in developing nations to prevent patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms from needing a ventilator. Craig’s devices were sent to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, Africa where there are between 100-200 ventilators for 2.4 million people. The devices were sent on March 30, 2020 and subsequently lost in Germany for a period of time. We received word from Craig’s colleague at Northeastern on April 15, 2020, five days after Craig passed away, that the package safely arrived in Ghana.

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital is doing testing with Craig’s device (unofficially called the “Smallwood Device”) on patients with a variety of symptoms. Here is one story from May 4, 2020:

A very sick 23-year-old woman with cerebral palsy and other underlying health issues (however, no COVID-19 symptoms) was in the ICU for 18 days. This patient was battling sepsis and multi-organ dysfunction. She was on a ventilator and was headed for a tracheotomy (an incision made in the windpipe to relieve an obstruction to breathing). Receiving a tracheotomy in any circumstance would be devastating; however, a tracheotomy in a developing nation has its own obstacles. Doctors were weaning respiratory support on the ventilator and had an opportunity to extubate her, so they seized the opportunity. Her team wanted to try a non-invasive ventilation tactic (a face mask is used to deliver oxygen and pressure), so they tried the Smallwood Device. After one hour on the Smallwood Device, her heart rate lowered, her blood pressure lowered and her respiratory rate stabilized. The Smallwood Device helped this patient break her bad cycle of low shallow breathing, prevented her lungs from collapsing and also prevented her from needing a tracheotomy. Craig’s colleagues are so excited with these early results. As more information becomes available regarding other testing and device production, we will post it here.