Month: June 2020

If you needed a little Monday pick-me-up, have you seen our latest corporate video? Even if you already have, a re-watch of our typical British humour might be just what you need!

This video is a little different from our previous ones; we wanted to add an element of humour to portray the family side of our business, whilst also getting in the key information about who we are and what we do.

Unfortunately due to the world going into lockdown, we didn’t have much of a chance to ‘officially’ launch this video, but we wanted to share our work nonetheless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=P-h7KpMn5Ds

Today is World Environment Day – an awareness day held annually on June 5th and organised by the United Nations to encourage consciousness and action for the protection of our environment – which is why it is the perfect day to announce Bedfont® Scientific Ltd.’s #EcoResolution.

As the threat of global warming seems ever pertinent and with technology making more people aware of climate change and its devastating effect, more and more people are beginning to think about their impact on the environment and so it only makes sense that as companies we should consider our carbon footprints also, and how to reduce them.

If the past few months during lockdown have proven anything, it is that nature is a wonderfully resilient thing; carbon emissions have fallen sharply and the lower pollution levels and lack of human footfall have allowed for the water in Venice to become clear enough for fish and even jellyfish to be seen swimming in the canals, and for endangered sea turtles to have a rise in population.

While the environment has been able to recover over a short period of time, it makes one think how much of an impact we really have on eco-systems and how we can make changes going forward to not reverse the good that has come about.

At Bedfont®, we’ve always been conscious of our carbon footprint, and today we are proud to announce our #EcoResolution to make all of our consumables eco-friendly by 2025. This not only includes changing the materials our consumables are made of, but also making changes throughout its production lifetime to reduce our climate impact, including sourcing new eco-friendly materials from sustainable resources.

We’re excited to share that our first step in making this happen is by introducing our SteriBreath™ Eco mouthpiece. Whilst the current polypropylene SteriBreath™ mouthpieces are recyclable, there are not many facilities available to break down this grade 5 plastic. Unfortunately, polypropylene also takes several years to break down naturally in landfills, and because it is plastic, when incinerated it results in the release of toxic fumes, which contribute to pollution levels.

It is, for this reason, we have conscientiously sought after a way to provide more environmentally-friendly mouthpieces. The SteriBreath™ Eco is 100% made from paper and therefore it is 100% recyclable and 100% biodegradable, including its packaging. Even better, all the materials are from sustainable sources, meaning we are reducing our carbon footprint in even the production phase. It’s going to be a difficult journey to change the norm of consumables in the medical device industry, but like the story of the butterfly effect, the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts.

The NObreath Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) monitor from Bedfont is being used in a novel study to see if FeNO levels are affected by COVID-19

Testing has started at the Hospital Policlin São José dos Campos in Brazil to establish what effect SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) has on FeNO levels, and if measuring FeNO can act as a biomarker of prognosis for COVID-19 patients. The study, conducted by Professor Rodolfo de Paula Vieira, uses the NObreath® FeNO monitor from Bedfont Scientific Ltd. to take measurements during the initial consultation, together with other parameters.

Prof. de Paula Vieira explains, “High levels of FeNO have been associated with bronchial inflammation, remodeling (fibrosis) and hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic patients, and especially asthma severity and prognosis. Thus, due to the nature of the inflammatory and rapid fibrotic process found in COVID-19 patients, we hypothesized that COVID-19 patients could present high levels of FeNO at the beginning of the disease. In addition, some mild and moderate symptomatic patients presenting COVID-19 symptoms have come to the hospital and some of them develop the severe form of COVID-19. The study will evaluate the possible correlation between FeNO levels with the progression of severe COVID-19 patients and if a correlation can be found between FeNO and the progression and severity of COVID-19, FeNO could be introduced to general practice for initial trial of individuals with COVID-19 symptoms, aiming to permit an early medical intervention to avoid the illness becoming more severe.”

Managing Director, Jason Smith, says, “We have been working with Professor de Paula Vieira for some time now and are privileged to have him and his enthusiastic team on our Medical Advisory Board. We have collated as much clinical theory as possible on this subject; some suggest FeNO levels could rise some suggesting it could fall, but as this virus is very new and novel there really is no replacement for targeted testing which we believe will be the first of its kind.”