Presscuff

The 1st Pressurized Endotracheal Tube

A VUB/UZ Brussels spin-off

"This is genius and so simple."

Our story

How presscuff came to be

The problem

In Intensive Care units in hospitals all around the world, patients using breathing aids are intubated. On the inside of those tubes, oxygen flows towards the lungs. But on the outside, saliva/secretions drip down towards the lungs as well. As those contain bacteria, this often leads to severe pneumonia, or VAP (Ventilator Associated Pneunomia).

The idea

Most endotracheal tube producers have tried close the gap and reduce the leakage of those secretions by adding cuffs (a sort of balloons) on the outside of the tube. As this did not stop the leakage, they have tried everything from multiple cuffs, different forms & material…but it seems impossible to close the gap fully as little folds/channels always remain.

The solution

In Intensive Care units in hospitals all around the world, patients using breathing aids are intubated. On the inside of those tubes, oxygen flows towards the lungs. But on the outside, saliva/secretions drip down towards the lungs as well. As those contain bacteria, this often leads to severe pneumonia, or VAP (Ventilator Associated Pneunomia).

The product

The PressCuff is the first pressurized endotracheal tube, unique in its kind. It is developed by the UZ Brussels and VUB, patented and tested on Intensive Care patients.

The Presscuff Ecosystem

Founders

Miel Suijs

Head of R&D, Previously chief nurse Intensive Care UZ Brussels

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Benjamin de Vlam

Chief Operational Officer
Doctor

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Evert van Meeuwen

Chief Financial Officer
Financial expert

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Advisory Board

Daniel
Chapiro

Mechanical Engineer,
PHD, Stanford University

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Jan vanden Abeele

Prof.
Health Finance

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Stijn
Blot

Professor University of Gent

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Dr. Prof. Joop
Jonckheer

 

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Partners

More about Presscuff

Our mission

To reduce Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

Due to its high rate of mortality, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most dreaded infections that can strike a hospital patient. It afflicts a considerable percentage of those in intensive care units (ICUs) so weakened by illness or trauma that they need mechanical help to breathe.

Our mission is to help prevent VAP and save lives while doing so.

Market feedback

Most anesthesiologists we have spoken with have been enthusiastic about the idea and the prognosis of less VAP cases:

“This is genius & so simple” – An (unrelated) anesthesiologist when he first heard of Presscuff.

The academic world has also shown interest in Presscuff. In one paper, we found
the following comment:

“From a clinical point of view, this new tracheal tube is quite interesting, especially for ICU patients with a high risk for pneumonia”

Contact Us

We're open to questions, comments and suggestions related to Presscuff.

  • Evertvanmeeuwen@presscuff.com
  • 0478 70 30 93
  • Presscuff, Bioville, Abis, Agoralaan, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium