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Presscuff

The 1st Pressurized Endotracheal Tube

A VUB/UZ Brussels spin-off

Introduction

In Intensive Care units in hospitals all around the world, patients using breathing aids are intubated. On the inside of those tubes, oxygen flows towards the lungs. But on the outside, saliva/secretions drip down towards the lungs as well. As those contain bacteria, this often leads to severe pneumonia, or VAP (Ventilator Associated Pneunomia)

Our story

How presscuff came to be

The problem

In Intensive Care units in hospitals all around the world, patients using breathing aids are intubated. On the inside of those tubes, oxygen flows towards the lungs. But on the outside, saliva/secretions drip down towards the lungs as well. As those contain bacteria, this often leads to severe pneumonia, or VAP (Ventilator Associated Pneunomia).

The idea

Most endotracheal tube producers have tried close the gap and reduce the leakage of those secretions by adding cuffs (a sort of balloons) on the outside of the tube. As this did not stop the leakage, they have tried everything from multiple cuffs, different forms & material…but it seems impossible to close the gap fully as little folds/channels always remain.

The product

The PressCuff however, does exactly the opposite and uses that gap to its advantage: it adds pressure in between two cuffs. As the air pressure tries to escape through the little channels of the upper cuffs, it blocks the saliva from trickling down (towards the lungs). 

The PressCuff is the first pressurized endotracheal tube, unique in its kind. It is developed by the UZ Brussels and VUB, patented and tested on Intensive Care patients.

"This is genius and so simple"

The Team

Miel Suijs

Co-founder of Presscuff. Before that, Miel was the chief nurse at the intensive care unit of UZ Brussels, where invented the PressCuff. Since then, he has been working rentlessly to improve and promote this product.

Evert van Meeuwen

Co-founder of Presscuff, with experience in financial markets and start-ups.