Airshield® is set to facilitate face-to-face medical appointments that are safe for patients and doctors having obtained a UK trademark for its patented technology.
Airshield® protects patients and doctors by creating an invisible wall of air which captures 99%* of the aerosol particles that can transmit the virus between people when they breathe, cough or sneeze, even when vaccinated. Independent testing has shown that Airshield gives better protection than surgical masks.*
Airshield® is a unique air protection device that creates a downward-moving laminar flow of air which captures the potentially virus carrying aerosol particles, and then removes these particles with proven HEPA filtration, followed by UVC light sterilisation to make any virus inactive. The cleaned air is then returned to the room.
Airshield's managing director and inventor Nigel Shepherd says: "At the beginning of the COVID epidemic, the perceived wisdom was that sanitisation and wiping surfaces was the way to control the virus. It is now widely known that the danger lies in transmission via people's breath and that the closer they are too each other, the riskier it is. Airshield® will make face to face consultations safer for patients and doctors."
There is concern amongst GPs at the increasing demand from the NHS, the government and patients for the number of face-to-face appointments to increase. This uneasiness is driven by several factors including:
- The risks of spreading Covid-19 to and from doctors and patients
- The number of GPs and other medical professionals and healthcare workers across the world losing their lives to Covid-19 while in the line of duty
- Ongoing issues surrounding resourcing the required capacity expansion
Airshield provides a highly effective solution that gives a higher level of safety than masks, visors or screens**, so that patients and doctors can be confident that they achieve the advantages of consultations in person without the inconvenience or discomfort of masks or whilst minimising the risk of virus transmission.
*Research conducted by Nottingham Trent University's Medical Technologies Innovation Facility
**This research showed that while visors and masks reduced the abundance of potentially virus carrying particles by around 80%, Airshield reduced these particles by 99%.
