NI entrepreneur designs groundbreaking ‘head box’ to protect medics treating coronavirus patients

The clear one-piece head box developed by Michael Knight shields clinical staff when they are performing procedures that result in patients expelling aerosol spray.

Mr Knight is managing director of Co Down company Donite Plastics, which uses specialist heat technology – thermoforming – to mass produce moulded plastics.

For the last six weeks he was been working with innovation experts from Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge to design the box for use when medics are intubating Covid-19 patients or connecting them to ventilators.

As those procedures result in patients expelling spray, they bring with them a high risk of virus transmission.

The inspiration for the project came during a conversation Mr Knight had with a friend, Dr Madalina McCrea, who works as a consultant anaesthetist in Northern Ireland’s Western Trust.

Mr Knight told the PA news agency: “Mada knew I made things from plastic and we were chatting about a device that would sit over a patient’s head, whether in a ward or an intensive care unit which would allow the medical practitioner to work on the patient, but also to protect them and the patient when carrying out procedures.

“There were pictures on the internet of very simple square acrylic boxes being used for this purpose in Taiwan during the height of their Covid-19 epidemic.”

Mr Knight’s daughter Sarah then put him in touch with a former colleague, Maighread Ireland, who is part of the clinical engineering innovation team at Addenbrooke’s.

He said: “By coincidence, it turned out that Maighread had already been tasked by Addenbrooke’s to investigate these head box devices.

“It made perfect sense then, that they would collaborate to develop a more sophisticated product suitable for use in the UK.”

Mr Knight said making the box perfectly see through was a major challenge using the normal vacuum forming process.

He therefore developed a new technique, which used both vacuum forming and another process called free dome blowing.

“From the start we knew we wanted to form the device from a single piece of plastic so there would be no joins or sharp corners, to make it easy to clean and disinfect.

“The part also had to be crystal clear at the places where the clinician would be looking through it at the patient.”

Mr Knight, is hoping to start full production of the head boxes this week at his factory in Saintfield.