Pure Pedantry : Vomit Ejector Ejects More than Vomit

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Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.

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Vomit Ejector Ejects More than Vomit

Category: Technology
Posted on: June 15, 2006 10:48 AM, by Jake Young

SciAm's Invention is reporting the filing of a patent for a vomit ejector -- a ultrasonic pulse that irritates the wall of the trachea triggering the patient too cough:

Patients who overdose on drugs or alcohol can easily drown on their own vomit because they are too intoxicated to cough. Doctors must dread the thought of giving mouth-to-mouth to such a patient in an emergency.
So inventor John Perrier from Queensland, Australia, has come up with an ultrasonic device that promises to make anyone cough, no matter how ill or sedated they are.

The handheld device, which resembles a rechargeable torch, has a curved section at the front that fits over a patient's throat. This section contains a transducer that generates ultrasound pulses at frequencies above 20 kilohertz.

Presumably the utility of this item exceeds simply expelling vomit. Think of all the other things you could get people to cough up: action figures, margaritas, the keys to the car, etc. In fact, I think there should be a home model because sometimes you can never be certain that your roommate is alive -- and want to check by torturing them a little.