A young inventor from Co Cork has been shortlisted for a prestigious prize for his new oxygen-delivery system for hospitals.
James D’Arcy’s device, called Flo2w, is the only Irish entry to make it the final of the international Dyson Design Awards. James is in with a chance to win the grand prize of €12,000 – plus €12,000 for the design department at the University of Limerick, where he has just completed his final year.
The contestants must pitch their inventions to a panel of top experts, Dyson engineers and finally James Dyson himself – the renowned international inventor whose charitable trust is behind the awards.
Oxygen system
James D'Arcy's prototype design for his oxygen delivery system
James’s invention holds an oxygen tube to a patient’s head with an adjustable headpiece, and the subtle design makes the user feel as if they are not even wearing it.
“It eliminates the big, intimidating, one-size-fits-all mask that is currently being used,” he explains.
James, who comes from Minane Bridge in Cork, has beaten more than 500 entries from 21 countries to make this year’s final. He drew his inspiration for the project from his father, who spent over eight months in hospital.
“It was here that I noticed the amount of issues with the current respiratory masks. The flimsy strap that was poorly attached to the mask kept loosening, and after a period of time the strap was causing pain above the ear.
“In addition to this, the top of the mask was causing pain at the bridge of the nose and led to skin sores.
“I also observed that some of the oxygen was escaping out the sides of the mask and blowing into the patient’s eyes, therefore the efficiency of the mask was poor.”
In the early part of his research James undertook “empathy trials”, wearing a traditional mask in a hospital environment. The next phase was conceptualisation “with lots of sketching and prototyping”.
“I used the prototype in a hospital environment and found it much better. I was also getting help from a respiratory nurse within the college and she also approved of the design. Fine tuning the design came after this.”
The winner of the James Dyson Design Awards will be announced on 5 October. Last year’s winning invention was a fire extinguisher that can be fitted directly onto a standard kitchen tap. In the event of a fire, a wireless heat detector triggers a pump and quickly fills the kitchen with a fine mist to put out the blaze.
Learn more
View all this year’s entries
Read James D’Arcy’s blog
Learn more about designer James Dyson on Wikipedia
