Talk and demonstration
Could you imagine what it was like to be placed inside an ‘iron lung’?
At this Heritage Late you can experience what that might have been like by getting inside a modern ‘iron lung’ called the Exovent.
Dr Jim Roberts, a founder member of The Exovent Charity, will provide a talk on the history of ventilation and the development of the Exovent, a torso only negative pressure ventilation (NPV) device, which was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to treat a variety of acute and chronic respiratory diseases. A demonstration of the Exovent will follow the talk.
Meet the speaker
Dr Roberts was appointed as a consultant anaesthetist in 2006 to The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital on Gray’s Inn Road, London. He led the anaesthetic department through the COVID-19 pandemic and the relocation of the service from the Gray’s Inn Road site to University College London Hospital.
He graduated from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1993 and started anaesthetic training at Northwick Park. He moved to UCLH for registrar training until his consultant appointment.
He has always had a strong interest in medical innovation and co-invented, with Dr Maan Hasan, an epidural space seeking device. He has worked with UCL Business and consulted for several large medical manufacturing companies including the innovation consultancy PDD. He was a founder member of The Exovent Charity and has been working with the Exovent group to support the development of this exciting therapeutic opportunity.