Indian-Origin Couple In US Develop Low-Cost Ventilator To Help Save COVID-19 Lives

With COVID-19 spreading across the world at a crazy rate, it is also causing severe stress on medical resources such as ventilators that patients with severe cases of the novel coronavirus need to survive.

With rising cases, the whole world is experiencing a shortage of ventilators, and the need for cost-effective ventilators is paramount.

Reuters

Looking at this demand, several companies and individuals have come together to showcase their ventilator designs that can save lives. And now, an Indian-American couple has developed a low-cost portable ventilator to fight this shortage.

The ventilator has been developed by Devesh Ranjan, a professor and associate chair at Georgia Tech¡¯s George W Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and his wife Kimida Ranjan who is a practising family physician in Atlanta. They were able to develop the prototype in just three weeks.

Facebook/Devesh Ranjan

Ranjan said in a statement to PTI, ¡°If you can do a manufacturing of scale, it can be produced (item cost) in less than USD 100. Even with a price point of USD 500, they (the manufacturer) would have enough money to make sure that they are making enough profit in the market.¡±

The ventilator for saving COVID-19 lives

The ventilator is called Open-AirVentGT and it has been developed to deal with acute respiratory distress syndrome -- a common complication caused by the notorious COVID-19 that stiffens the lungs and requiring ventilators to breathe.

The ventilator is fitted with sensors and computer control to manage parameters like respiration rate, the amount of air going in the lungs in each cycle as well as pressure on lungs, among other parameters.

NRI Pulse

Devesh further stated, ¡°The impact of this could be significant if other parts of the world are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Having equipment that can be made quickly where it is needed and with the kind of control system doctors need could really help address the worldwide impact of this virus.¡±

The ventilators will be developed by Singapore-based Renew group, headed by Ravi Sajwan -- an Indian-origin entrepreneur from Uttarakhand.