Medical Grade Polymer CO2 Capture (PolyMedCap)

This project to be known as PolyMedCap (Medical Grade Polymer for CO2 Capture) seeks to improve inhalation anaesthesia processes, cost and environmental footprint. Inhalation anaesthesia is routinely used during human and veterinary healthcare settings to perform surgery. The cost of anaesthetic gases is known to be very high consequently the anaesthetists and surgeons use low-flow anaesthesia methods to carry out the procedures. Low-flow anaesthesia is performed using an anaesthetic machine connected to a circle breathing system which allows the patient to rebreathe the expired air, containing unmetabolised anaesthetic gas, after carbon dioxide is removed. The process of removing carbon dioxide is known as "CO2 scrubbing" and is performed by scrubber absorbents, e.g. soda-lime. Some of the scrubber absorbents are known to produce toxic by-products that can potentially harm the health of patients and healthcare professionals.

In low to medium-income countries and emergency operations, low-flow anaesthesia usage is limited because of; inaccessibility to non-reusable carbon dioxide scrubbers, waste storage issues and the high cost of anaesthetic gases for example Sevoflurane.

The PolyMedCap project aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the manufacturing and use of carbon dioxide scrubber system when performing low-flow anaesthesia in both conventional and low-resourced healthcare units. It will use a polymer CO2 scrubber that provides a solution to lowering healthcare CO2 footprint and increase access to inhalation anaesthesia in low to medium-income countries and in low-resourced healthcare units (such as surgery and hospital camps setup during pandemic, war and natural disaster events).

The PolyMedCap project will research innovative and eco-friendly design for manufacturing a single packaged reusable and smart CO2 scrubber that captures, stores and recycles in-situ without having to the scrubber carnister take away. The CO2 scrubber will be designed as eco-friendly polymeric material that captures only carbon dioxide. The project also intends to design a dedicated capture, storage and release system to enable on-site and low-energy CO2 scrubber regeneration. This will allow in-line reuse of the scrubber and high purity carbon dioxide storage with possible medical or non-medical reuse.

Overall, the project will deliver an innovative design of a CO2 scrubber system that is desirable and profitable by placing the planet at the centre of the design process and increasing access to surgery in disadvantaged Countries/Areas.