Nitric Oxide (NO) inhalation to treat COVID-19: coupling in-situ NO-generating modules to ventilators

一氧化氮 (NO) 吸入治疗 COVID-19：将原位 NO 生成模块与呼吸机耦合

• 批准号: 71335
• 金额: $ 6.32万
• 依托单位: FOURTH STATE MEDICINE LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Feasibility Studies
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=71335
• 关键词: Nitric; Oxide; NO; inhalation; treat

**COVID-19:** in December 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Committee identified an outbreak of viral pneumonia of unknown cause. Coronavirus RNA was quickly identified in some of these patients. This novel coronavirus has been designated SARS-CoV-2, and the disease caused by this virus defined as COVID-19\. This disease has now become pandemic, and with well over 1 million confirmed cases, 100,000 deaths and a case fatality rate that exceeds that of influenza by at least an order of magnitude. COVID-19 represents a substantial challenge to healthcare systems and economies worldwide.**Nitric Oxide (NO) gas:** (not to be confused with Nitrous Oxide, N2O, or Nitrogen Dioxide, NO2) is produced naturally by the body for controlling numerous bodily functions (e.g. blood flow, wound healing, inflammation) and as a potent antimicrobial (including against drug-resistant bacteria, fungi and viruses). NO inhalation therapy, in which NO gas in controlled concentrations is delivered to patients' lungs via ventilators, is an approved treatment for a number of respiratory conditions. Currently approved NO inhalation therapy systems mix NO gas, stored in large compressed gas cylinders, with air flow for breathing. NO inhalation is currently being investigated by several research groups worldwide for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 - the therapy previously showed promise during the 2002 SARS outbreak.**Problem:** assuming the therapy works in clinical studies, key barriers remain to rapid, widespread and cost-effective deployment. Current systems using compressed NO gas cylinders are prohibitively expensive (£100/hour over several days of continuous treatment) and only available for niche use - scaling up delivery to address COVID-19 would be expensive and logistically impractical.**Potential solution:** plasma technology (electrically ionised gas, the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid and gas) can produce NO in-situ from air (nitrogen and oxygen). Coupled in-line to existing ventilators, Fourth State's compact, modular and affordable plasma devices could intelligently deliver NO in the flow of air to the lungs, using just electricity as an input. Our devices have previously been independently verified by UK universities to produce NO in controlled quantities, with corresponding known biological effects (antimicrobial action, accelerated wound healing processes).

**COVID-19：** 于2019年12月，武汉市卫生委员会确认爆发不明原因的病毒性肺炎。在其中一些患者中迅速鉴定出冠状病毒RNA。这种新型冠状病毒被命名为SARS-CoV-2，由这种病毒引起的疾病被定义为COVID-19。这一疾病现已成为大流行病，确诊病例远远超过100万例，死亡人数达10万人，病死率至少超过流感一个数量级。COVID-19对全球医疗系统和经济构成了重大挑战。**一氧化氮（NO）气体：**（不要与一氧化二氮（N2 O）或二氧化氮（NO2）混淆）由身体自然产生，用于控制许多身体功能（例如血流，伤口愈合，炎症），并作为有效的抗菌剂（包括耐药细菌，真菌和病毒）。NO吸入疗法，其中通过呼吸器将受控浓度的NO气体递送到患者的肺部，是用于许多呼吸疾病的批准治疗。目前批准的NO吸入治疗系统将储存在大型压缩气瓶中的NO气体与用于呼吸的空气流混合。目前，全球多个研究小组正在研究NO吸入用于治疗和预防COVID-19 --该疗法在2002年SARS爆发期间曾显示出希望。问题：** 假设该疗法在临床研究中有效，快速，广泛和具有成本效益的部署仍然存在关键障碍。目前使用压缩NO气瓶的系统非常昂贵（连续治疗数天，每小时100英镑），并且仅可用于利基用途-扩大交付以应对COVID-19将是昂贵的，并且在后勤上不切实际。潜在的解决方案：** 等离子体技术（电离子化气体，固体，液体和气体之后的第四种物质状态）可以从空气（氮气和氧气）中原位产生NO。Fourth State的紧凑型、模块化和经济实惠的等离子体设备与现有的净化器串联连接，可以智能地将空气流中的NO输送到肺部，只使用电力作为输入。我们的设备之前已经过英国大学的独立验证，能够以受控的数量产生NO，并具有相应的已知生物效应（抗菌作用，加速伤口愈合过程）。