Sameer Arbat, young Interventional Pulmonologist from Nagpur is the pioneer of Interventional Pulmonology in Central India. He is the first doctor to have Central India’s only EBUS and Cryotherapy setup. He has received many awards at national conferences and has many national and international publications to his name. He is the youngest International Faculty to teach at WABIP Program. He has performed more than 800 Interventional procedures including Cryotherapy, EBUS, Endobronchial Debulking and Thoracoscopy.

The Bronchoscopy Safety Box was conceptualised and designed in March 2020 by Dr Arbat after he witnessed the bronchoscopy procedure images of doctors from Italy who were getting exposed to COVID-19 cross infection. He designed the first prototype by using existing acrylic sheets and plastic materials available in the hospital as all vendors were shut due to the lockdown.

“There is a lot of cross-infection risk involved in performing bronchoscopy procedures with patients of COVID-19. The idea of the safety box came to my mind after I saw some designs being used for intubation in other countries. I improvised it to act as a multipurpose box for performing bronchoscopy as well as intubation procedures. I believe it should be useful for all doctors all over the world. It is advisable for the doctors and staff to wear proper Personal Protective Equipment for maximum safety” comments Dr Sameer Arbat.

On 2^nd April, the Italian Society of Pulmonologists broadcasted Dr Sameer Arbat’s invention at an international webinar. Dr. Stefano Gasparini, one of the pioneers of bronchoscopy in the world and Ex- President of WCBIP, was chairing this broadcast and highlighted the importance of this invention and has named it the “Arbat Safety Box”. He stressed on the need for the doctors to use adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and have a negative pressure system installed in all bronchoscopy suites. The “Arbat Safety Box” has received a special mention in the “Position Paper on Bronchoscopy in COVID-19: Role & Modalities” published internationally by the Italian Thoracic Society & Italian Society of Pulmonologists.