An interventional study of Hope inVent in Brain Death and Respiration, Artificial, sponsored by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC). Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 100 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) · Not applicable, Interventional, and Device feasibility
This first-in-human pilot study will test an investigational miniature breathing device called the Hope inVent. The device is a small, single-use, in-line respirator that connects to a breathing tube and uses compressed oxygen to help move air in and out of the lungs. It has no moving parts and is designed to provide short-term breathing support in situations where standard ventilators may not be available, such as emergencies, disasters, battlefield settings, transport, or ventilator shortages.
The study will enroll up to 5 brain-dead organ donors who are already receiving mechanical ventilation at the Gift of Life Donor Care Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Donors will only be included after authorization for organ donation and research has been obtained through standard procedures. Donors who may donate lungs or who have significant lung disease will not be included.
During the study, investigators will briefly replace the standard ventilator with the Hope inVent device for up to 15 minutes. The standard ventilator will remain immediately available, and the donor will be continuously monitored by the clinical and research teams. Investigators will measure whether the device can maintain acceptable breathing measures, including oxygen level and carbon dioxide level. They will also record breathing pressures and tidal volume, which is the amount of air delivered with each breath. If the device does not perform as expected or if any safety concern occurs, the donor will be returned immediately to the standard ventilator.
There is no direct benefit to the organ donor. Information from this study may help determine whether this type of simple, low-cost breathing device could be useful for future patients who need emergency or short-term ventilator support when standard ventilators are not available.
Study Description:
Proof of Concept pilot study to support use of a miniature in-line patient respirator for patient ventilation needs.
Objectives:
Primary Objective:
To assess the effectiveness of the miniature respirator to ventilate intubated braindead research donors while maintaining respiratory measures within acceptable range.
Secondary Objective
The miniature respirator performs as designed and tested in a lung simulator.
Endpoints:
Primary Endpoint:
A binary variable equal to 1 ("success") if both of the following criteria are met (during the placement of the test device):
the respirator maintains the end tidal CO(2) between 35- and 45-mm Hg;
and
Otherwise, the primary endpoint is equal to 0 ("failure").
Secondary Endpoints:
Binary variables equal to 1 ("success") if tidal volume and airway pressure settings (PEEP and maximum peak airway pressure) are within 30% of predicted values. Otherwise, the secondary endpoints are equal to 0 ("failure").
74 studies on the registry are indexed under Brain Death; 10 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 5 is below the median of 154 across 39 interventional studies indexed under Brain Death.
Browse Brain Death studies →National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) is the lead sponsor of 375 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.
Of its 23 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 19 (83%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Diagnosis of brain death
EXCLUSION CRITERIA
An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:
Brain-dead research donors with severe respiratory disease. This may include:
Acceptable range for Arterial Blood Gas (ABG values)
Parameter - pH / Range - 7.35-7.45
Parameter - PaO2 / Range - >=75 mm Hg
Parameter - PaCO2 / Range - 35-45 mm Hg
Parameter - HCO3 / Range - 22-26 mEq/L
Parameter - SpO2 / Range - 94-100
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
All enrolled brain-dead organ donors who meet eligibility criteria will receive the investigational Green Hope inVent miniature in-line, pressure-cycled respirator for up to 15 minutes. Respiratory and physiologic measures will be collected before device placement while the donor is on the standard mechanical ventilator and during use of the Hope inVent device. Each donor serves as their own control; there is no separate comparator arm. The standard ventilator will remain available, and donors will be returned to standard ventilation after testing or earlier if safety or performance criteria require.
Device: Hope inVent
The Hope inVent is an investigational, single-use, miniature in-line respirator designed to provide short-term ventilatory support for intubated individuals. The device is a 3D-printed, pressure-cycled, gas-powered respirator with no moving parts. It connects to the endotracheal tube breathing circuit and uses compressed oxygen as its power source. In this study, only the Green Hope inVent model will be used. The device cycles between fixed pressure settings: peak inspiratory pressure of 18 cm H2O and positive end-expiratory pressure of 6 cm H2O. Enrolled brain-dead research donors will be placed on the device once for up to 15 minutes, with continuous respiratory and physiologic monitoring. The donor will then be returned to the standard mechanical ventilator.
Proportion of donors with successful ventilation and oxygenation during Hope inVent testing.
Success is defined as maintaining both end-tidal carbon dioxide between 35 and 45 mm Hg and oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry greater than 94% during placement of the Hope inVent device. If either criterion is not met, or if device use is stopped early because of inadequate ventilation or oxygenation, the outcome is classified as failure.
Time frame: During device use, from connection of the Hope inVent device to removal, up to 15 minutes.
Proportion of donors with tidal volume within 30% of predicted value
Tidal volume will be measured using an in-line respiratory monitor while the donor is ventilated with the Hope inVent device. Each donor will be classified as a success if tidal volume is within 30% of the protocol-specified predicted value; otherwise, the donor will be classified as a failure.
Time frame: During device use, from connection of the Hope inVent device to removal, up to 15 minutes.
Proportion of donors with positive end-expiratory pressure within 30% of predicted value
Positive end-expiratory pressure will be measured using an in-line respiratory monitor during Hope inVent ventilation. Each donor will be classified as a success if positive end-expiratory pressure is within 30% of the protocol-specified predicted value; otherwise, the donor will be classified as a failure.
Time frame: During device use, from connection of the Hope inVent device to removal, up to 15 minutes
Proportion of donors with maximum peak airway pressure within 30% of predicted value
Maximum peak airway pressure will be measured using an in-line respiratory monitor during Hope inVent ventilation. Each donor will be classified as a success if maximum peak airway pressure is within 30% of the protocol-specified predicted value; otherwise, the donor will be classified as a failure.
Time frame: During device use, from connection of the Hope inVent device to removal, up to 15 minutes
Plan to share: Yes — De-identified or anonymized individual donor-level data may be shared with collaborating investigators or institutions at NIH, the University of Pennsylvania, or outside institutions, and/or submitted to NIH-designated databases, consistent with donor authorization, applicable IRB approvals, NIH policies, and federal regulations. Shared data will not include direct identifiers. If coded data are shared, the code key will not be provided to collaborators. No biospecimens will be stored or shared for future use.
Supporting information: Study protocol
Time frame: De-identified or anonymized individual participant data and supporting information may become available after publication of the primary study results or posting of summary results on ClinicalTrials.gov, subject to applicable consent/authorization, IRB approvals, data-use agreements, and NIH/federal requirements.
Access criteria: De-identified or anonymized donor-level data may be shared with qualified investigators at NIH, the University of Pennsylvania, or other institutions upon written request to the Principal Investigator. Requests must describe the proposed scientific use, such as analyses of device performance, respiratory/physiologic outcomes, safety, or related protocol objectives. Requests will be reviewed by the study team/sponsor and shared only as permitted by donor authorization, IRB approvals, institutional policies, data-use or collaboration agreements, and NIH/federal requirements. Data may be shared with investigators/institutions with a Federalwide Assurance or operating under the Declaration of Helsinki; other sharing will require prospective IRB approval. Data may be transferred securely or submitted to an NIH-designated database. Direct identifiers and code keys will not be shared.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for Dec 2028, 24 months later.
Of 14 interventional studies with no phase under Brain Death, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 24 and three quarters within 52. This study's planned 24 months is below that.
Start moved 32 times since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026: Sep 2026 → Nov 2026, last on Nov 10, 2026.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) →