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aiba Gionfriddo was only six weeks old when he stopped breathing. His father desperately pushed on his son’s small chest, trying to get him some air. They rushed him to the hospital. Fortunately, Kaiba got better, and doctors sent him home. Then, two days later, the same thing happened. Kaiba’s family discovered he had a rare medical condition. His windpipe had not developed properly and was collapsing when he tried to breathe. There was no pathway for air to get into his lungs. Without treatment, he would probably die. His doctors contacted a pair of scientists at the University of Michigan. One was a children’s doctor named Glenn Green. The other was Scott Hollister, a biomedical engineer, also known as a BME.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND splint  a device used to support a body part or keep it still ventilator  a machine that lets a person breathe artificially

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