ICORD PI Dr. Andy Hoffer has received funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research for a collaborative study with researchers at Royal Columbian Hospital. Dr. Hoffer, a professor at SFU, is the founder of Lungpacer Medical Inc. The study, with Dr. Steve Reynolds, will investigate how patients in the intensive care unit receive respiratory support. A $160,000 proof-of-principle Phase I grant from CIHR will fund their trial of a transvenous diaphragm pacing system (DPS).
The device, developed at SFU, is designed to protect the diaphragm muscle from rapid atrophy, or wasting, in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. The goal is to make respiratory support safer and more effective than existing respiratory therapies.
