Way to Go! Mineola student strives to protect health care workers
Keira Talty, a senior at Mineola High School, has developed a noninvasive ventilator. Credit: Mineola School District
A Mineola High School student has created a way to further protect health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keira Talty, a senior, recently developed a noninvasive ventilator that can be monitored and controlled remotely — such as through a computer or mobile device. The ventilator would allow hospital workers to control the devices without entering a patient's room and thereby reduce their risk of contracting the virus themselves.
Talty's ventilator also includes a pulse oximeter to measure a person's oxygen saturation.
"With my noninvasive ventilator nurses can stand outside of the room or the patient could even be at home," said Talty, 17, who developed the project as part of her school's Advanced Research 3 course. "They don’t have to risk contracting this potentially lethal virus themselves."
Talty began by researching noninvasive ventilators and reading through studies from universities that have produced their own at a low cost. Upon completing the project, she tested her ventilator at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan and is now in the process of pursuing a patent.
"Keira is an amazing young lady," Mineola Principal Whittney Smith said. "She is quiet and unassuming, but is this powerhouse of knowledge."
Talty is also president of her school's National Honor Society and Science Bowl as well as a peer tutor and a member of Mathletes, Science Club and Girls Who Code Club.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
