A Development for Asthmatic Divers: Development of An underwater Inhaler

When I was young, in the eighties, one fellow in our scuba club did suffer of asthma. The symptoms were exacerbated by the fact that you breath very dry air.
His solution was simple: an humidifier installed between 1st stage and IP hose. It was a small cylinder containing a tubular sponge, which had to be saturated with water. This was very effective creating some sort of mist in the air you breath.
I suppose that those humidifiers are stll being manufacturer.
I also suppose that replacing water with some mild, diluted aerosol solution can provide even better effects...
See here:
http://shop.divingexpress.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2181

 

Yes, warmth and moisture help a lot. I have exercise-induced asthma which is normally well controlled. Getting thoroughly warmed up before I start exerting myself helps a lot. If I just jump straight in to copious breaths of cold, dry air, I'll start to wheeze immediately. But that's more like 40F / 5C air. Never had even a light wheeze while diving. And my doctor did sign off.

 

And here:
Bio Filter Scuba Air Moisturizer | Apollo USA Scuba
This indeed does not provide an unobstructed air passage, as it also works as a filter.
Some here could argue that a filter can be obstructed, hence it is less safe...

 

I would be wary of buying a life-support product that brags: "Negative Ions refresh, invigorate and increase alertness. The force of moisture through flow tube crushes water molecules which then attach to oxygen molecules to create negative ions. This generates 7000-8000 pcs/cc with each breath. Similar to levels produced by waterfalls and forests. Every dive should feel this great!"

 

ah my bad, i didnt realise that there were cases of asthma where an inhaler isnt needed, ill be sure to add that thanks

 

interesting, different product though. Dry air is a trigger for attacks, ill be looking at delivering the preventative

 

I think, in theory, anyone who has asthma should carry an inhaler but some people who have infrequent mild asthma may not have one.

 

The RSTC forms also ask if you have ever had asthma, not just whether you do currently. It's quite common for people who had asthma as children to outgrow it and either experience no symptoms, or only mild symptoms not requiring treatment. Some of those folks may still keep an inhaler around, just in case, and might even be interested in a product like this. Doctors especially might be quicker to sign off on diving if this were an option for those folks.

 

great point, it would be something if effective maybe they could relax the rules on diving with asthma slightly. In the uk alone 12% of people have it, so even if 1 of those percent are now able to learn, thats another 600,000 or so people eligible in the uk alone

 

I hold three patents on devices that are unmarketable simply due to projected liability insurance costs. All are for attractive, remarkable and innovative products, causing sufficient demand to far exceed investment, mold costs, etc.

What level of liability incurs with SCUBA gear? Flippers, masks, regulators, or...how about inserting goo into the pressurized Reg Set system? What could possibly go wrong?

And really, that’s not the issue. You can have the safest widget in the world, once you enter into a certain group of products, you share that liability burden equally. Frustrating but true.

I don’t bother to make things, been there, done that. I sell my patents. Once liability insurance figures in, i have nothing any manufacturer would be interested in.

Now, factor in the extremely limited application and market.

The numbers will defeat you.