New Device and Rehabilitation Help Patient Breathe Free of a Ventilator

LINCOLN, Neb. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Trent Borland takes a deep breath and begins to talk. "It feels so good to be able to do that," says the father of two young girls who has relied on a mechanical ventilator since a surgery on September 7 to remove a tumor left him paralyzed.

Trent is only the fourth person to have a NeuRx DPS implanted in Nebraska - a device that makes independent breathing possible for certain individuals who are otherwise ventilator dependent. Implanted through a minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, the pacer provides electrical stimulation directly to the diaphragm, restoring a normal breathing pattern.

Dr. Greg Fitzke with Surgical Associates of Lincoln, PC, performed the operation on October 30 at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center. Trent returned to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital following the outpatient procedure and began weaning from the ventilator the next day.