This technology is a low-cost, automatic ventilator with dynamic pressure regulation that can be used to alleviate the current shortage of mechanical ventilators caused by COVID-19.
Mechanical ventilators provide positive pressure respiration support to patients during respiratory disease, anesthesia, and for emergency resuscitation. Highly infectious respiratory diseases, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, pose a significant challenge to overwhelmed hospitals, which are facing a shortage of mechanical ventilators. Even though medical device companies are ramping up their production, manufacturing and certification will limit their timely delivery to hospitals. In addition, each ventilator costs between $25,000 and $50,000, representing an insurmountable cost for rural hospitals and health care systems in developing countries.
This technology is an automatic pressure-driven ventilator, which can be easily assembled with commercially available components that cost less than $200. The “Bag-in-Bottle” design incorporates a pneumatically driven actuator to provide closed-loop pressure regulation, through either mechanical or electrical control. The actuation of the ventilator is synchronized with the patient’s breathing cycle through pressure sensors, which are highly accurate with direct measurement display. Dynamic pressure regulation and low-cost manufacturing of this technology allow for its expedited delivery to hospitals with mechanical ventilator shortages, potentially expanding ventilator stockpiles for hospital systems with low funding or resources.
A prototype of the technology has been constructed to fit a commercial bag valve mask resuscitator, and the design can be applied to other ventilator models.
IR CU20320
Licensing Contact: Jerry Kokoshka