NEW YORK, Sep 13 (Information On Japan) –
On this yr’s Ig Nobels, Japanese researchers have gained an award for locating that mammals can breathe via their anuses, opening a brand new pathway for ventilators.
On September twelfth, Professor Takafumi Takebe and his analysis group from Tokyo Medical and Dental College had been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Physiology for locating that many mammals can breathe via their rear finish.
Takebe and his group targeted on sure species, akin to loaches, which might take up oxygen via their intestines by way of the anus, and superior their analysis from there.
Initially, they experimented by instantly injecting oxygen gasoline into the intestines of mammals. Nevertheless, the quantity of absorbed oxygen was minimal, and there was a danger of the intestines rupturing, prompting the necessity for a unique method.
Because it was a completely new area of analysis, there was a scarcity of help for his or her actions, together with monetary challenges.
Nevertheless, the unfold of COVID-19 raised consciousness that typical strategies of supporting affected person respiration couldn’t save all lives. This in the end turned a tailwind for his or her analysis.
The group started utilizing a particular liquid wealthy in oxygen as an alternative of gasoline, and so they revealed that this technique improved the signs of mammals affected by respiratory failure.
Whereas Takebe’s “intestinal air flow technique” will not be an entire substitute for lung perform in sufferers whose lungs have totally failed, the group anticipates that when utilized to human remedy, it might scale back the burden on the physique in comparison with typical ventilators and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) units.
Scientific trials on people have already begun, and it’s anticipated that remedy utilizing the “intestinal air flow technique” may very well be realized in Japan by round 2028.
With this award, Japanese researchers have gained the Ig Nobel Prize for 18 consecutive years.
Supply: ANN
