COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the whole world, especially the medical industry.?
The sudden rise in the number of Coronavirus positive cases has resulted in extreme shortage of medical supplies -- masks, face shields, hand sanitizers all going out of stock -- even here in India. However, the worst is the shortage of life-saving ventilators.?
Acute cases of COVID-19 don¡¯t allow a patient to breathe on their own. That's where a ventilator comes to save the day. But with the number of cases skyrocketing, hospitals are running out of ventilators across the world.
However, a team at MIT has developed an open-sourced ventilator that costs only Rs 7000 to make -- a fraction of what ventilators usually cost -- and can help bridge this gap.
The ventilator is called E-Vent and it is based on a decade-old project which was a part of the MIT Precision Machine Design course. In a conventional ventilator, you have mechanical parts that push air through the windpipes. However, the approach with E-Vent is slightly different.
It makes use of an Ambu bag, which is essentially used for emergencies when a ventilator isn¡¯t available -- where a doctor or a medical practitioner squeezes the bag by hand to push air into the lungs of the patient. E-Vent uses this Ambu bag (something that is available in abundance in hospitals) and squeezes it with the help of paddles attached to a mechanical motor.?
When the world experienced an immense shortage of ventilators, the engineers at MIT brought the dead project back to life. However, not just that, they also made some further modifications to make it easier to operate and last longer -- with a new metal frame.
While the design schematics of the E-Vent is readily available for anyone to make, they strongly recommend that the device should be created by clinical engineers and used under the presence of a medical practitioner.?
A member from the team clearly stated, ¡°E-Vent has to be manufactured according to FDA requirements, and should only be utilized under the supervision of a clinician. The Department of Health and Human Services released a notice stating that all medical interventions related to COVID-19 are no longer subject to liability, but that does not change our burden of care.¡±
He further added, ¡°At present, we are awaiting FDA feedback about the project. Ultimately, our intent is to seek FDA approval. That process takes time, however.¡±