Pendle firm joins forces with Mercedes F1 team to deliver breathing aids for the NHS

A Pendle lubricant firm is working in partnership with the Mercedes F1 team and University College London to help deliver vital ventilation devices.
The CPAPdevices help coronavirus patients with lung infections to breathe more easilyThe CPAPdevices help coronavirus patients with lung infections to breathe more easily
The CPAPdevices help coronavirus patients with lung infections to breathe more easily

Performance Fluids, based in Lomeshaye Industrial Estate, has been playing a pivotal part in the fundamental supply of critical components used for the manufacture of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure devices.

The designs of the new breathing aid, developed by engineers at the Mercedes F1 Team, University College London, and clinicians at UCL Hospital have been made freely available to support the global response to Covid-19.

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It is the latest development in Formula 1’s Project Pitlane effort to help fight coronavirus.

The CPAP devices, which help coronavirus patients with lung infections to breathe more easily, were developed after a round-the-clock effort to reverse engineer a device that could be manufactured rapidly by the thousands.

Performance Fluids were approached by the Mercedes F1 Team to provide them with a PFPE lubricant, which each CPAP device requires.

Specialising in Perfluoropolyether lubricants, Performance Fluids were able to provide product knowledge, support and then manufacture the PerFluoroLube® OT-20 lubricant within the rapid timeframe required to support the project.

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It took fewer than 100 hours from the initial meeting to production of the first device, and after patient evaluations at UCLH and across sister hospitals in the London area the device received MHRA regulatory approval.

Last Wednesday,the order for 10,000 units was successfully achieved and fulfilled for the British Government. These were produced at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains technology centre in Brixworth, the facility where the F1 Team’s power units are developed and built.

The team behind the aids have made the designs required to make the device available for manufacturers to download. It is hoped that by making this information widely available it will help the global response to the crisis by enabling healthcare systems around the world to provide respiratory support for patients with Covid-19.