Vomit ejector

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.

When the device is pushed firmly against the patient's neck, the ultrasound penetrates the walls of the pharynx and excites the tiny hairs, called cilia, which line it.

Exciting the hairs causes such intense tickling that the patient's cough reflex is stimulated and their throat cleared. The device could also help people who are choking on dust or smoke to breathe again, the patent suggests.

Read the full patent here.