Funding for CuffGuard at KHSC will be raised through Banding Together benefit concert.
When the YGK Healthcare Champions announced that buying a new automated cuff-pressure monitoring system for ventilated patients, called CuffGuard, would be one of the projects they support in 2026, the Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) team behind the proposal could hardly believe it.
For Respiratory Therapist Tom Fisher and his colleagues, Dr. Christine D’Arsigny and Dr. Michael Taylor, the support represents more than new equipment. It marks the beginning of a change in how Intensive Care Unit (ICU) teams care for some of the region’s most vulnerable patients.
CuffGuard automatically regulates the pressure of endotracheal and tracheostomy tube cuffs—the inflated balloons that keep a patient’s airway sealed while on a ventilator. These pressures naturally fluctuate throughout the day, and when they are too low or too high, patients face potential health complications.
“When pressure drops, bacteria can leak into the lungs and cause pneumonia,” explains Dr. D’Arsigny. “When the pressure is too high, it can damage the trachea and sometimes lead to airway problems. This device helps us prevent both.”
Currently, respiratory therapists manually check cuff pressure once each shift. But patient movement, fluid changes and repositioning cause pressures to rise and fall constantly through the day.
“That’s the challenge,” says Fisher. “No matter how many times you check, it still isn’t right. With CuffGuard, it will be at the right pressure all the time. That peace of mind is huge.”
CuffGuard also reduces the workload on health-care teams.
“Right now, it takes me at least an hour to check all of the patients,” says Dr. Taylor. “This equipment frees up time so respiratory therapists can be at the bedside helping people in distress—where they’re truly needed.”
Although not yet widely used in Canada, CuffGuard is gaining recognition internationally, and KHSC may become one of the first hospitals in the country to adopt it. The team plans to conduct a quality-improvement study once the devices arrive, measuring their impact on patients. If results are promising, they intend to publish their findings to help other hospitals adopt the technology.
“It’s a modern approach to ICU monitoring,” says Dr. D’Arsigny. “For the relatively small cost, the impact is significant—shorter ICU stays, fewer pneumonias and fewer long-term airway injuries.”
Funding for the project will be raised through Banding Together, a June 20 benefit concert at the Broom Factory featuring Old Docs, New Tricks, a band made up of local physicians donating their time and talent.
Last year’s YGK Healthcare Champions fundraising concert raised $33,500 to purchase artificial intelligence technology to support organ transplants at KHSC.
For the team, donor support is nothing short of transformative.
“No one wants to be in the ICU,” says Dr. Taylor. “But when people end up there, we want to get them better and faster treatment with fewer complications. This device will help us do exactly that.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring or supporting the YGK Healthcare Champions’ Banding Together concert can contact:
Krista Lessard
UHKF Associate, Healthcare Engagement & Sustainability
613-549-5452 ext. 5917
Krista.Lessard@uhkf.ca
