Engineer makes user-friendly aerosol box for medical frontliners

By Siti Shafiah Ariffin

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 -- Concerned over the safety of medical front liners in battling the COVID-19 outbreak, an engineer came up with his own initiative to create an aerosol box or intubation box to reduce the risk of infection.

Ir. Mohd Azwan Aziz said the idea to make the user-friendly aerosol box came from his wife, who is a radiologist at a hospital in Kemaman, Terengganu.

"My wife often tells me about the personal protective equipment (PPE) used by doctors and nurses. I asked her how can I help, and started to create the aerosol box based on the data and information provided by my wife and other friends," he told Bernama.

Mohd Azwan said to date, he has produced about 50 aerosol boxes, which were distributed to several hospitals and health clinics.

"For now, we have distributed seven units to Putrajaya Hospital, two units each for Selayang and Serdang Hospitals as well as to Precinct 9 Putrajaya Health Clinic, respectively," he said, adding he was ready to fulfill the high demand for the boxes.

Aerosol box acts as a barrier to safeguard healthcare providers while performing intubations or medical procedures.

According to Mohd Azwan, he and his team can produce 10 aerosol boxes a day, and a non-government organisation (NGO) had volunteered to send the boxes to the healthcare facilities.

In addition,  he said he also produced special aerosol boxes for children and infants as requested by Putrajaya Hospital.

"We consulted some specialist doctors and nurses to find out the features of the intubation boxes they need so the boxes can be truly beneficial to the healthcare personnel.

"We make the boxes with a slightly slanted surface to allow doctors to feel comfortable to see the patient and when inserting the tube during the intubation process,” he said, adding each one costs about RM200 to RM300.

Each aerosol box is made of acrylic material with a thickness of between 3 millimetre (mm) and 4mm.

-- BERNAMA