ndd Medical Technologies Reports New Inline Filters Offer Additional Protection Against COVID-19 During Lung Function Tests

ndd Medical Technologies (ndd), a leading provider of diagnostic technology enabling healthcare professionals the early detection of COPD and other chronic lung diseases, has introduced new single patient-use, inline filters for its lung function testing devices, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Ensuring an added level of safety, the new filters can be used with ndd’s revolutionary, and highly portable EasyOne^® spirometry range, including the EasyOne Air, EasyOne Pro, and EasyOne Pro LAB. EasyOne spirometers are popular among pulmonologists and medical researchers as they are of the most sensitive devices available, delivering reliable, real-time lung function results and diagnosis of chronic lung diseases, even at the point of care.

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on global healthcare systems, and the safety of both patients and healthcare professionals during lung function testing is paramount.¹ In addition, as the SARS–CoV–2 virus is known to affect the lungs, there is growing research into the effects of COVID-19 on lung function post-infection.²

The EasyOne product line was originally designed with a strong focus on infection control with easy-to-wipe surfaces, single-use parts for anything that comes into contact with a patient’s breath, and ndd’s unique spirette and flow tube design which protects the flow sensor from cross-contamination. Now, when performing spirometry and testing of the diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO tests), the new EasyOne inline, single patient-use filters provide “double protection” for technicians and patients by keeping the ambient environment clean, without significantly affecting the EasyOne’s sensitivity.³

Leading pulmonologists and medical researchers around the world use ndd’s lung function testing products due to portability, which means they can easily be used in point of care settings, and because they are of the most sensitive devices available. ndd’s rigorous sensitivity tests have shown that the new inline filters do not significantly affect this sensitivity and show comparable results in 24 waveform testing, (as required by ATS/ERS) and pass testing requirements³. World-renowned medical research organizations—such as Johns Hopkins University, University Hospital Zurich and University of Cape Town—are partnering with ndd to assess the long-term lung damage caused by SARS–CoV–2.

Dr Trishul Siddharthan, Assistant Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, commented, “There is a lot of research underway to investigate the long-term effects of COVID-19. Our research group has been partnering with ndd thanks to the reliability of these spirometers in global settings and the ease of cleaning these devices during the pandemic to ensure safety.”

Prof. Friedrich Thienemann, General Medicine & Global Health research group, University of Cape Town and University Hospital Zurich, also noted, “In order to measure lung functions in resource-constraint settings like South African townships, one needs a device that is portable, point-of-care, easy-to-use, low-maintenance, and reliable without complicated calibration. EasyOne Pro LAB is that device.”

Incorporating ndd’s patented TrueFlow^TM ultrasound technology, the EasyOne translates airflow into ultrasound signals which are measured by the sensors, so the patient’s breath does not come into contact with the sensors. This helps to prevent contamination and minimizes the cleaning required for safe use, while enabling a lifetime of calibration-free accuracy for flow and volume measurements.

Georg Harnoncourt, ndd Medical’s CEO, commented: “At ndd we have always designed our lung function testing products with safety in mind, so since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked tirelessly to develop additional infection control measures to protect both technicians and patients. Our EasyOne spirometers already offer superior infection control as everything that comes into contact with a person’s breath is replaced after use. In addition, our new inline filters have been carefully designed and tested so that, in combination with this superior infection control design, you can continue critical lung function testing during the COVID-19 pandemic as safely as possible.”

References

1. Hull J, Lloyd J, Cooper B. Lung function testing in the COVID-19 endemic. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2020;20.
2. Mo X, Jian W, Su Z, Chen M, Peng H, Peng P et al. Abnormal pulmonary function in COVID-19 patients at time of hospital discharge. European Respiratory Journal. 2020;55(6):2001217.
3. ndd Medical. Internal data on file. 2020.