An Indian origin couple living in the United States has reportedly developed a low-cost portable emergency ventilator to help doctors in India and other developing countries who are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The portable ventilator is called Open-AirVentGT which is developed specifically to address the acute respiratory distress syndrome that is being found to be evident in the coronavirus patients. A professor and associate chair in Georgia Tech’s George W Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Devesh Ranjan, and Kumuda Ranjan who is a doctor in Atlanta developed the prototype of the ventilator in three weeks.
The ventilator that is developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology uses electronic sensors and computer control that will manage key parameters like respiration rate, inspiration and expiration ratio, tidal volume, and pressure on the lungs. According to Ranjan, the cost involved in manufacturing one ventilator will be around 100 dollars that are 7,500 rupees. The same type of ventilator in the United States costs 10,000 dollars that are 7.5 lakh rupees. However, Ranjan clarified that the ventilator used in the intensive care unit is more sophisticated and expensive.
As per Doctor Kumuda, the main aim of the project was to make an economical ventilator that gives full control to the physician. Taking into account the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the world, there is a real shortage of ventilators all across the world.
Designed Specifically for India
The ventilator is designed specifically to cater to countries like India and those in Africa. It will make healthcare affordable and more accessible, Ranjan said. He further added,
“The idea was to develop a low-cost ventilator, which can be manufactured easily using the already available supply chain in India. The impact of this could be significant. Having equipment that can be produced quickly with the kind of control system doctors need, could really help address the worldwide impact of the virus.”
A Singapore-based Renew Group is going to develop the prototype into a real product. The Head of the Company, Ravi Sajwan said,
“We have built a wide collaborative network with a single focus of getting more ventilators into the most disadvantaged health systems in the world in order to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19.”
Source: Scroll.in
