Izzy

As people decide to ignore the pressing issue of climate change, especially our air quality, it continues to get worse. By 2065, the sea level will rise such that people will have to wade through the Seaport District. It is not a far reach to think most of the water will become homogenized making it dangerous. The air will be so polluted that masks will not be enough. This is where the idea for an esophageal and tracheal implant was born. It is an implant that goes below the opening to the trachea in your esophagus and is attached to the opening of the trachea. The esophageal implant consists of a home-made filter - very fine charcoal and sand with a piece of cloth at the end - to clean water before it reaches the digestive tract. The tracheal implant connects just below the epiglottis (the thing that closes your airway when you eat and drink so that you do not breath in food or water) but stops before the vocal folds. It is a tube that travels up the rest of your throat, splits to go your nasal cavity and your mouth, then pierces through the cheek to connect to a filter on the side of the face. 

Rebecca

As climate change increases and air quality on earth deteriorates, by 2035, humans will face great difficulty drinking clean water. In order for humans to have the ability to drink clean water, we have invented an implant that is placed below the opening to the trachea, in the esophagus. This tool connects to the opening of the trachea (the airway). The implant utilizes a filter for taking out pollutants from the water and a piece of cloth and comfort. This filter enables the user’s intake of water to be stripped of pollutants and become clean water. By the time the water reaches the digestive system, it will not have any pollutants mixed in. The tracheal implant connects past the epiglottis and the tube goes past the throat and into the nasal cavity. The tool then goes to the cheek and connects to a filter, resting on the side of the cheek.