In China, TEQOYA air purifiers now equip more than 400 rooms in three hospitals: maternity wards were the first to be equipped, followed by cardiology and pneumology departments.
Why is indoor air quality so important in the medical environment? What are the health benefits of ionisers for patients?
As we pointed out in our article https://www.teqoya.com/asthma-babies-and-air-pollution, at birth, children's lungs are not yet mature: They are then made up of "only" 50 million pulmonary alveoli, rising to 300 million by the age of two. Each alveolus then expands until the age of 8 1.
Newborn babies are therefore particularly sensitive to the fine particles that penetrate the respiratory tract and reach the alveoli. The poor quality of the air they inhale in their first days can have consequences for their health throughout their whole lives, encouraging the development of allergies and respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis.
Not only do the finest particles penetrate as far as the lungs, they are also capable of capturing allergens (dust mites, pollens, grasses) and concentrating them. This can exacerbate inflammation of the lungs and the consequences of respiratory illnesses.
The WHO estimates that 36% of lung cancers are linked to pollution, 35% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 34% of strokes and 27% of heart disease 2. The medical use of air purifiers is therefore particularly justified in these departments!
Indoor air quality is not the only benefit of TEQOYA products! While many products used to purify the air work with HEPA filters, our solutions use ozone-free ionisation technology: the negative ions produced charge the polluting particles and eliminate them from the air by electrostatic abatement.
These negative ions, which are found naturally in the purest environments such as mountains and rivers, have other health benefits as well: positive effects on mood and cognitive performance, well-being, improved heart function and quality of sleep, normalisation of blood pressure and lung function... 3
After their surgery, patients in cardiology and pneumology departments often need re-education, which prolongs their stay in hospital. During this period, the medical profession is vigilant about the quality of their indoor environment: the use of an air ioniser, which can achieve concentrations of 6,000 to 8,000 negative ions per cm3, is one of the criteria considered.
A nosocomial disease is an infection contracted during a stay in a healthcare establishment. To avoid them, it is of course necessary to disinfect hands, equipment and surfaces, as well as ensuring perfect hygiene for patients, medical staff and visitors. However, these measures do not eliminate the risk of airborne transmission of viruses and bacteria. Air ionisers are an effective way of protecting patients' health and controlling the risk of contamination.
The skin of burn victims can no longer act as a barrier against external aggression, particularly against viruses. There is a major risk of airborne contamination. For these patients, who are very vulnerable and difficult to treat, an infection can be fatal. Furthermore, they usually stay in a medical environment for several months.
In short, the risk of contracting a nosocomial illness is much greater, but above all, the consequences if they do occur can be dramatic: so special attention must be paid to their environment, and in particular to air quality. Avoiding the spread of germs, bacteria and other infectious agents in the air is a key factor in their recovery.
Frédéric Yeh has worked with Chinese operators to deploy air purifiers for medical use in maternity wards and the pneumology and cardiology departments of three hospitals.
Interview.
Thanks to the efficiency of our products!
We have two different cases: for the maternity units, we simply responded to a call for tenders with a local partner, and carried out the tests requested on viruses and bacteria. Both the head of the medical department concerned and the purchasing manager were convinced by the scientific reports, which demonstrated the effectiveness of our equipment on 97% of viruses and 99% of pollutant particles as a whole.
For the cardiology and pneumology departments, we were approached by a doctor whose asthmatic patient had purchased a TEQOYA. After 12 months, with the air purifier in his room non-stop, the improvement in his health was obvious: he had gone from being hospitalised regularly to being so comfortable that he sometimes forgot his treatment!
In both single and double rooms, we installed TEQOYA T450 units, which are ideal for this purpose because they are totally silent and easy to move around. Initially, hospitals equipped only a few rooms on a fixed basis, but in response to demand, they opted for a fleet of mobile air purifiers, so that they could be installed according to patients' needs. It should be pointed out that this is an additional service offered by hospitals, for which there is a charge. Patients are therefore well aware of the impact of these devices on their health.
The TEQOYA T450 ioniser is effective in rooms up to 50m2, so it can also be used in communal areas such as reading rooms.
For consultation tables, the TEQOYA T200 is perfectly suited to stand on a table. Light, discreet and imperceptible to the ear, it is completely forgettable.
They're all very interested in our new TEQOYA S1 air quality sensor and the associated AirObserver app. As my partner explained on our blog, we have integrated the TERA Sensor Next PM into our monitor. In addition to its very high performance, it has the specificity of analysing not only the reference indicator for air quality, PM2.5, i.e. the mass of particles, but also their number. In parallel, we have developed a calculation method based on scientific research, which gives the finest, and therefore most dangerous, particles the same weight as the more voluminous ones. This sensor is highly relevant for assessing the impact of air quality on health, and therefore for hospitals!
Natural environments are rich in negative ions. This is precisely the principle on which the air ionizer is based on. However, do you know how this technology manages to capture the pollution particles contained in the indoor air to purify your home?
In December 2019, a respiratory virus of the Coronavirus family appeared in the Wuhan region of China and has now spread to all continents.
Purifying indoor air while protecting your health and the planet is possible! Say goodbye to filters and make way for negative ions: choose an eco-responsible air purifier that will easily reduce energy and resource consumption.