Georgia Tech alumni want to set up Open-AirVentGT manufacturing lines in India and Ghana.
A research team led by an Indian American professor has created a prototype for a low-cost, portable emergency ventilator to address a common complication for covid-19 patients.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology designed the ventilator to address acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which causes patients’ lungs to stiffen, requiring their breathing to be assisted by ventilators.
The Open-AirVentGT uses electronic sensors and computer control to manage key clinical parameters such as respiration rate, tidal volume (the amount of air moved into and out of the lungs during each cycle), inspiration and expiration ratio, and pressure on the lungs.
The new device endeavors to make breathing more natural by allowing patients to trigger their own breaths instead of relying on a respiration rate pre-set in the device, according to a Georgia Tech media release.
The ventilator works by pneumatically compressing a BVM (Bag Valve Mask) assembly of the kind used in hospitals and carried in ambulances as resuscitation devices.
RELATED: American Bazaar’s Covid-19 coverage
The ventilator is envisioned for use outside the US in countries that do not have significant medical infrastructure in place, and is designed to be produced for around $300, the release said.
“Our primary goal is to give the clinicians control over key parameters of the ventilator’s functionality,” said Devesh Ranjan, a professor and associate chair in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
“Once the system is initialized, a small on-board computer operates to maintain the set points governing respiration in an unattended way. The sensors and computer provide more control and real-time monitoring for doctors and other medical staff.”
A projected shortage of ventilators prompted by the covid-19 pandemic has led to development of makeshift ventilators, many of them based on differing mechanical strategies to compress BVM devices.
Ranjan and his research team evaluated what others had done and sought input on clinician needs from critical care specialists at two Atlanta hospitals during the design of the Open-AirVentGT, the release said.
“Based on what they told us, we realized we needed more control over the system to help those who were treating the patients,” he said.
“The clinicians needed to be able to see what is happening with patient’s respiration, and the ventilator needed to be able to respond to changing conditions.”
The team used two sensors and a Raspberry Pi computer to control the operation of a pneumatic piston that compresses the resuscitator bag.
The Open-AirVentGT was designed to be fabricated from components available worldwide. The pneumatic piston, which could be replaced by a different mechanical actuator, can be driven from a hospital compressed air supply, a portable compressor, or even a bottle of compressed air.
The Raspberry Pi computer can be replaced with other computing sources, and the device is designed to adapt to different bag sizes.
“We wanted to have easily sourced materials and use components that can be substituted where necessary,” Gokul Pathikonda, a postdoctoral fellow in Ranjan’s lab who led the engineering development of the device, was quoted as saying.
“Supply chains are different in different parts of the world, so we wanted the design to be modular and with easily interchangeable parts.”
Ranjan’s team has already been approached by Georgia Tech alumni in Ghana and India to set up manufacturing lines in their countries.
The team is reviewing how best to release the design for others to mass produce these devices to meet the global needs.
“The impact of this could be significant if other parts of the world are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ranjan said.
“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.”