Scientists at University College London have teamed up with the Mercedes Formula 1 motor racing team and a company called Oxford Optronix to create a breathing device to treat novel coronavirus instead of using ventilators, and have produced them in less than one week.

The apparatus, known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP, delivers oxygen to the lungs and has already been widely used to help patients in Italy and China, but until now they have been in short supply.

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has already granted approval and an initial batch of 40 devices has been delivered to University College London Hospital, with three more at other London hospitals.

If these are successful, the Mercedes factory will be able to make up to 1,000 units each day, starting next week.

"These devices will help to save lives by ensuring that ventilators, a limited resource, are used only for the most severely ill," said Mervyn Singer, UCLH critical care consultant.

Andy Cowell, managing director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, said his team's contribution was part of a wider response across the F1 community to come together "to support the national need" in challenging times.

"We have been proud to put our resources at the service of UCL to deliver the CPAP project to the highest standards and in the fastest possible timeframe," he added.

Andy Obeid, Chief Executive of Oxford Optronix, the company that will make the oxygen monitors, added, "By working flat out and mobilizing the support of every individual in my company as well as other small companies across the UK, we have accomplished something in five days that would normally take two years."

The device fills the space between an oxygen mask and the need for full ventilation, which requires sedation and invasive measures. It sends oxygen straight to parts of the lung damaged by the disease, making breathing easier, and reports from Italy indicate that approximately 50 percent of patients given CPAP subsequently avoided needing ventilation.

The turnaround of the idea from first discussion to first manufactured item was extremely fast, just 100 hours, giving hope that this could make a real difference to efforts to treat the virus patients.

But despite the major help they could give, the devices are not without their element of risk, because of the way the breathing mask is attached to the patient's face.

"The use of CPAP machines in patients with contagious respiratory infections is somewhat controversial as any small leaks round the mask could spray droplets of secretions on to attending clinical staff," said Duncan Young, professor of Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Oxford.