In high school, Catherine Gordon-Grant was nicknamed Cathematics, such was her love for maths. But it's in the applied field that the budding biomedical engineer, a master's student at the University of Cape Town (UCT), finds meaning and purpose, especially when the solutions, usually medical devices, are inexpensive, locally applicable - and accessible.
Gordon-Grant is part of the Medical Devices Laboratory's OpenAir Ventilation project, which started before lockdown kicked in - the lab's members identified the need long before it became critical. The low-cost, continuous positive airway pressure solution uses off-the-shelf components, such as aquarium pumps, and leverages existing hospital infrastructure to give critically ill patients a continuous stream of pressurised air and high levels of oxygen through a mask. This keeps airways open and prevents lung collapse.
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