Third Pole Nitric Oxide Generator

NO. This one’s NOT a no-no.

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I was thrilled when I was reading a recent Business Week issue.  It heralded the new developments of someone I used to know well.  We travel in different circles now (he still resides in the Boston area and he still works with the respiratory system and its issues), so we’ve fallen out of touch.

Back when I was getting my first patent (some 50 years ago!), my patent attorney wanted me to meet a professor at Harvard (who also happened to be at NIH – the National Institutes of Health- at the time.  To broaden my horizons.  (I had been fixated on dialysis for some 8 years by then.)

Funny things happen.  A few years later, while obtaining my advanced degrees in Cambridge (MA), Dr. Warren Zapol also happened to be one of my professors, teaching me respiratory pathophysiology.  (Yes, that really is a course of study.)

Now, to the present.  It seems that Warren and his son, David (they both got their undergraduate degrees from MIT) are now involved with their own company, Third Pole, Inc.  David is the CEO for this 8 person startup that is looking to commercialize a nitric oxide generator.

Why?  Because, as Dr. Zapol determined years ago, nitric oxide (which dilates blood vessels- which is one of the ways that Viagra provides its results) could help folks with pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure) increase the oxygen levels in their blood.  (Warren started using this concept to treat “blue baby” syndrome, something he was familiar with, since his research efforts at the time involved membrane oxygenators [artificial lungs].)  The key point is that while NO (nitric oxide) dilates arteries, it doesn’t cause a drop in systemic blood pressure.  However, too high a level of NO in the blood can lead to methemoglobinemia- and cutting off NO too quickly leads to “rebounding” pulmonary hypertension.

The problem is that NO is generally provided to patients from those big metal cylinders (like you see for compressed air).   And, as such, it is one of the highest “drug costs” in neonatal intensive care facilities.

Let’s jump forward a few years.   To now.  The Zapols have developed a device they call the Third Pole that uses pulsed electrical charges.  This produces nitric oxide from the air, which is then combined (via a nasal tube) with the oxygen being afforded the patient.  (A physician will have already determined the proper nitric oxide dosage that would help the patient reach oxygen saturation.)

The device uses ambient air, which is then subjected to passage through an iridium spark electrode, operating at relatively low temperatures.   This produces the NO, along with low levels of nitrogen dioxide and ozone, which is why a calcium hydroxide scavenger is used (to remove these impurities). Moreover, the surface of the electrodes is eroded (about 90 micrograms a day are produced) during the production of NO and those metal particles emitted need a HEPA [high efficiency particulate air] filter (which they use) to keep the particles out of the patient’s respiratory pathway.

Oh, and while this device is currently about equivalent in size to a gallon jug, these researchers are also working on a paperback sized version.  This version could be clipped to a belt and used by patients who require oxygen therapy in the home.

Glad to see that Dr. Warren Zapol is still bringing relief to those with compromised respiratory systems.Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

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8 thoughts on “NO. This one’s NOT a no-no.”

  1. Oh, how neat! It sounds like a wonderful invention for those who would need something like that. I didn’t meet anyone exciting when I was in grad school (LOL).

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