In a new study, researchers have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients that is built around a ventilator bag usually found in ambulances.
The research was conducted by a team of engineers and physicians at the University of California San Diego.
The team built an automated system around the bag and brought down the cost of an emergency ventilator to just $500 per unit–by comparison, state of the art ventilators currently cost at least $50,000.
The device’s components can be rapidly fabricated and the ventilator can be assembled in just 15 minutes.
The device’s electronics and sensors rely on a robust supply chain from fields not related to healthcare that are unlikely to be affected by shortages.
The UCSD MADVent Mark V is also the only device offering pressure-controlled ventilation equipped with alarms that can be adjusted to signal that pressure is too low or too high.
This is especially important because excessive pressure can cause lung injury in COVID-19 patients that often experience rapid decreases in lung capacity as the disease progresses.
Most ventilators measure the volume of air that is being pumped into the patient’s lungs, which requires expensive airflow sensors.
By contrast, the UCSD MADVent Mark V measures pressure and uses that data to deduct and control the airflow to the lungs. This was key to lowering the device’s price.
The team from UC San Diego and industry partners will be seeking approval for the device from the Food and Drug Administration.
The team says the MADVent can safely meet the diverse requirements of COVID-19 patients because it can adjust over the broad ranges of respiration parameters needed to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The combination of off-the-shelf components and readily machined parts with mechanically driven pressure control makes our design both low cost and rapidly manufacturable.
Researchers also wanted to make sure that the device could be used by healthcare workers with limited experience with ventilators and no experience with this type of system.
As a result, the MADVent Mark V is safe to use, easy to assemble, and easy to repair.
This device could be a great option for use in situations where materials are scarce, such as when the normal supply chain breaks down, or in developing nations and hard-to-reach rural areas.
The device is not meant as a substitute for the highly complex ventilators used in Intensive Care Units.
One author of the study is James Friend, a professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
The study is published in Medical Devices and Sensors.
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