The “Thalia Box 2.0” is intended for use by Healthcare Providers when caring for or performing medical procedures on patients who are known or suspected to have COVID-19 in healthcare settings to prevent HCP exposure to pathogenic biological airborne particulates by providing an extra layer of barrier protection in addition toPPE.
These Protective Barrier Enclosures have been authorized for use during the COVID-19 pandemic per this Emergency Use Authorization issued by the FDA issued on May 1, 2020 - https://www.fda.gov/media/137584/download
Intubating a COVID-19 patient is considered an extremely high-risk procedure for medical staff . This box is designed to reduce this risk by containing the aerosols generated by the patient during the intubation procedure.
The original aerosol box was created by Dr. Hsien Yung Lai in Taiwan. However, we felt we could make some significant design improvements so we redesigned it and retooled it for high-speed manufacturing in our California Factory. The result was the first Thalia Box. We produced and shipped out 375 of these original Thalia Boxes. Here is a quick overview...
HERE IS A VIDEO OF THE VARIOUS CHANGES AND UPGRADES WE HAVE MADE...
LAUNCHED APRIL 21, 2020
THE NEW THALIA INTUBATION BOX 2.0 INCLUDES NUMEROUS CHANGES AND UPGRADES INCLUDING:
For a copy of our INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE please send an email to support@thaliabox.com
Medical staff wraps Glad Cling Wrap around the Thalia box sealing off hand holes and body cavity. Next, Thalia Box is placed over the patient's head and neck, forming an aerosol barrier between patient and care providers.
Medical staff pushes hands through the sealed arm holes and performs endotracheal intubation on the patient or other procedures. The angled viewing window reduces glare and allows staff to clearly see patient while performing procedure.
Here is a short video from Boston Medical Center that shows what happens to medical staff when intubating a suspected COVID-19 patient with and without the use of an aerosol intubation box (not specifically the Thalia Box but this type of box.).
The video below uses a mannequin that simulates a cough and uses blue light to show the spray onto medical staff with and without the box.
SOURCE: BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER
Our boxes are designed to have better aerosol containment than other boxes. See this short demo using a humidifier to show how the box contains airborne water vapors and creates a great seal using the included Glad Cling Wrap. Each box comes with 400 yards of sealing film.
Click this map to see where we have sent boxes so far...
If you are a medical worker and would like to request a Thalia Box for your hospital, please complete this short form and we will do everything we can to raise the money or match you with a sponsor to get a Thalia Box sent to your hospital as soon as possible.
If you would like to make a donation so that we can meet the requests of frontline healthcare workers we have setup a gofundme page. Please donate if you can and share with your networks so that we can make the biggest impact possible.
Thalia is a California-based manufacturing company that makes premium guitar accessories. We are family company that started with a Kickstarter in 2014 and have grown into one of the preeminent guitar accessories companies with major brand partnerships and global distribution.
Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, we built and shipped out between 5,000-7,000 packages each month, so we we have the capacity and logistical capabilities to hit the ground running in support of the COVID-19 pandemic. We proudly build all of our products in Pleasant Hill, California.
On April 12, we were forced to shutdown and layoff our production team as part of the "shelter in place" order. With this program we have transformed into an "essential business" so that we can bring our production staff back to work to create these boxes. Thank you for your support as we do our part to help this fight against COVID-19
Several of our friends & family members are healthcare workers serving on the front lines in the fight against the Corona Virus. And my daughter Thalia (who the company is named after) plans to follow in their footsteps, going off to college in the fall as a pre-med major. We are disheartened by the grave reality that these brave women and men are risking their lives daily to provide necessary care. We cannot sit on the sidelines in this fight, especially when we can mobilize and make a meaningful difference that will save lives. With that, the Thalia box was born. Thank you for your support!
With the help of the CHP’s Medical Director Thalia Brands developed a new design for an intubation box, which protects doctors and nurses from getting the virus while treating coronavirus patients.
From guitar accessories to medical gear, a start-up pivots to a new era.
Thalia is one of a number of US companies retooling to fill shortages of coronavirus equipment.
Thalia Capos is retooling to build a simple life-saving device to help medical teams caring for critical COVID-19 patients. In addition, they are leveraging relationships with suppliers to source N95 masks
There are several other excellent open source projects underway to build aerosol or intubation boxes. We optimized the design of the Thalia Box so that we could manufacture a large quantity of them them in a very short period of time using our existing equipment.
Our design is not easy to make it you have a different setup, as it requires thermoformed bending, special jigs and specific laser bed sizes.
If you want to build your own box, please check these excellent resources:
https://sites.google.com/view/aerosolbox/design