A low-cost and portable critical care ventilator, 'PRANA' ("Programmable Respiratory Assistance for the Needy Aid') is based on the automated compression of an AMBU (Artificial Manual Breathing unit) bag.
The system has a sophisticated control system that includes airway pressure sensor, flow sensor, oxygen sensor, servo actuator as well as expiration and PEEP (Positive End Expiratory Pressure) control valves, according to an interest exploration note posted on the website of Bengaluru- headquartered space agency.
The clinicians can select the ventilation mode and set the required parameters through a touch screen panel and monitor various parameters like pressure, flow, tidal volume and oxygen concentration on the same screen.
The ventilator can deliver the required flow of oxygen-air mixture to the patient's lung at a desired rate set by the clinicians.
It has a provision to attach external battery for backup during power failure.
ISRO said PRANA supports both invasive and non- invasive ventilation modes and is capable of giving mandatory breaths (controlled by ventilator) as well as spontaneous breaths (controlled by the patient).
A robust algorithm for controlled and safe ventilation of the patient is implemented which raises alarm and opens safety valves to prevent barotrauma, asphyxia and apnoea during the ventilation.
Alarm is also raised in case of wrong or improper connection of the ventilation circuit or inadvertent disconnection of the hose or sensors.
There are also provisions to attach bacterial viral filters at each interface to prevent cross-infection and the contamination of air.
The ICU grade positive pressure mechanical ventilator titled 'VaU' (abbreviation of Ventilation assist Unit) can assist or replace the spontaneous breathing in patients under respiratory distress, ISRO said.
VaU is based on a centrifugal blower which draws in filtered ambient air, compresses it and delivers it to the patient to achieve ventilation and can therefore operate without a compressed pneumatic source.
Provision is also given in the ventilator to connect a high pressure oxygen source, from which oxygen is metered automatically, to achieve the desired oxygen concentration (FiO2) in the inspiratory flow.
Microcontroller based control module in the ventilator acquires signals from an array of sensors and commands the electro-pneumatic components to effect closed loop control.
VaU also comes with an intuitive Human Machine Interface (HMI) System running on a medical grade touch screen PC, which allows the operator to set and monitor various ventilation parameters in real time.
A power supply unit, which can operate with 230VAC or an internal battery pack, is used to power the electro- pneumatic components, controller, and the HMI system of the ventilator.
VaU has been configured to operate in a variety of patient/ventilator triggered invasive and non-invasive ventilation modes and has provisions to detect fault conditions and raise alarms through the HMI system to alert the operator.
Gas-powered ventilator 'Space Ventilator Aided System for Trauma Assistance (SVASTA)', a basic mode for non- invasive ventilation, is well-suited for emergency use for first line treatment and as transit ventilators inside vehicles, according to ISRO.
The basic design is simple, and the components can be easily mass produced for emergency use in pandemic like situations.
This ventilator, which runs on compressed air, is able to perform various ventilation conditions using manual mechanical settings.
The system is capable of pressure control ventilation (PCV) in its basic mode of operation with provision for setting different tidal volumes.
The basic ventilator design can be re-engineered appropriately by the manufacturer to cater to various modes of ventilation with control systems, electronics, and associated software, it was stated.
The prototype of the three ventilators developed at Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a major space research centre of ISRO, has undergone in-house test & evaluation and meets various specifications.
The responsibility of obtaining mandatory certification from approving agencies of government of India before clinical usage vests with the industry, the ISRO note said.
ISRO said it intends to transfer the technology of these three ventilators toPSUs/ industries/ start-ups having good track record in manufacture of critical medical/ electronic equipment manufacturing.
It invited Interested industries/ entrepreneurs to submit theirexpression of interest before June 15.
According to sources, the matter came to light after Bolangir MP’s representative Dinesh Sharma visited the General ICU ward of the hospital to meet a critical patient. He found as many as 10 ventilators being left unused and covered with clothes.
Moreover, of the total 16 beds in the ward, not a single bed had a ventilator support, sources added.
As soon as the video of the incident went viral, these non-functional life supporting machines were placed beside beds, relatives of some patients alleged.
“Many patients are dying due to unavailability of ventilators. Earlier, there were no ventilators in the ward. Hospital staff came this morning and placed these machines beside the beds,” alleged Dayanidhi Sahoo, a patient’s relative.
“Last evening, I went to meet a patient to enquire his health condition. To my surprise, I found him without ventilator support. When I asked a nurse why ventilator support is not provided, she said there are no staff to run the machines,” said Dinesh Sharma.
Responding to the allegations, Bolangir CDMO Bhim Sahoo said, “I am not aware of the incident. So, it will not be wise to comment on the matter.”
The ventilator, developed by a private company, was tested at a medical lab of the Ahmedabad civil hospital and given an approval on Friday night, an official said.
The locally developed ventilator is being used for patients from Saturday, he said, adding that the machine is working fine.
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The entire world is fighting the silent enemy coronavirus and is facing shortage of equipment like ventilators, N95 masks and PPE suits for doctors, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Saturday.
"When we have skills and big industries here, the Gujarat government decided to use it. Rajkot is considered as an engineering hub. Small scale industries of Rajkot supply engineering parts to NASA, ISRO, Railways and for defence production, Rupani said.
"I am happy to announce that an industrialist from Rajkot has been successful in manufacturing ventilators in just 10 days. They designed it, made a prototype, procured parts and successfully built ventilators. Their testing has been done and certification has been completed. It is being used on patients from Saturday," he told reporters.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also Gujarat's health minister, said the company, Jyoti CNC Automation Limited, has not only passed engineering requirements for the machine but also successfully cleared medical requirements at the testing lab.
"Chief Minister Rupani took special interest and invited industries to come forward and help to fight this global threat. He did regular follow-ups with the industry and assured and provided all help so that ventilators can be indigenously manufactured," Patel said.
Gujarat: Jyoti CNC, a Rajkot based firm held a successful trial of ventilator 'Dhaman 1' manufactured by them yesterday, in wake of #COVID2019 outbreak. The firm will be giving 1000 ventilators free of cost to Gujarat govt. The cost of one ventilator is around Rs 1 lakh (ANI) pic.twitter.com/c1WRSCdOse
— OTV (@otvnews) April 5, 2020
Jyoti CNC has decided to donate first 1,000 ventilators to the Gujarat government, he said.
The company's owner Prakaramsinh Jadeja said they were given the task which was difficult to achieve in this period of lockdown.
"A team of nearly 150 people has been working day and night for last 10 days to develop a 'Made in India' ventilator. Due to the lockdown and ban on international travel and goods movement, we cannot procure any parts from abroad. So we procured the ventilator parts from 26 different companies in India, Jadeja said.
The ventilator developed by the company has been named as 'Dhaman 1', which is the base model and fulfils the requirement of COVID-19 patients, he said, adding that later more advanced models will be developed.
Jadeja said the market cost of a single ventilator is Rs 6.5 lakh, but they have been able to manufacture it at a cost below Rs one lakh.
"We will donate 1,000 ventilators to the Gujarat government. We have got the capacity of manufacturing 100 ventilators per day and after three days, we will ramp up the capacity as per the demand," he said.
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"Many state governments are in touch with us and after providing ventilators to Gujarat, we will supply it to other states," he added.
Till Saturday, Gujarat reported 108 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths.
(PTI)
The developed prototypes are easy to use and can be taken to remote locations in case of a medical emergency. Priced at around Rs 4,000, the smart ventilator prototype is a mechanised Artificial Manual Breathing Unit (AMBU) bag with options to control breath rate and volume of air going into the patient's lungs.
The unique feature of the developed product is, apart from manual operation, it can be controlled by a mobile application over wifi as well.
For the same, the smartphone application, 'IIT Mandi Ventilator' has been developed by the research team. This mobile application can start-stop the ventilator and change the Breath/ Minute (BPM) rate. The designed prototype uses a slider-crank mechanism to pump air and is easy to manufacture, assemble and operate.
"Designed especially for COVID-19 pandemic, this low-cost ventilator can be operated manually as well as using a smartphone app connected over Wifi," Dr Apran Gupta, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi said in a statement.
"It can offer some protection to our medical staff, who can operate the ventilator remotely," Gupta added.
According to the Institute, there is also an emergency switch on the ventilator and the mobile application that stops the ventilator and alarms in case of any malfunction.
The ventilator can be directly operated with an AC supply or from an external battery. The present ventilator is for non-critical patients who need some help in respiration.
The research team have also developed a mechanical ventilator by using a low-cost self-inflating bag operated by an electric motor costing under Rs 25,000. They used the motor generally used in an electric ventilator along with the Artificial Manual Breathing Unit (AMBU) bag or self-inflation bag to achieve the goal.
In this ventilator, a single rack and pinion mechanism has been used in which the self-inflatable bag is compressed from one side that would blow the oxygen into the patient's lungs either through invasive or noninvasive mode.
The developed ventilator has an interface between the ventilator to the patient and the ventilator to the operator, the Insititute said.
(IANS)
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Ananya Aprameya from Bhanjanagar in Ganjam district along with some of his friends came up with this uniquely designed portable ventilator attached to a pumping air-bag to help Covid-infected people and other patients facing asphyxia. They started the project after enforcement of the nation-wide lockdown and finally the device 'Swasner' is ready. Another benefit of this pumping-ventilator is it's available at much cheaper price than the ones available in market.
"Due to lack of resources or knowledge regarding the application/operation, there seems to be a shortage of ventilators in hospitals. Focusing on this issue, we had 4-5 designs ready but then came up with this bubble helmet device which we had already researched on. We were inspired by the research being done at the University of Chicago (Medicine) and we started developing it under the guidance of our teacher Prof Sura Sharma. We had to go with this idea because we think there's a huge difference between Indian and US market and medical industries. We developed this device according to the medical needs and requirements of patients here," said Ananya, who is now in his 3rd year B.Tech.
"The materials used have been certified by Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Bhubaneshwar. The device has the potential to meet the demand for ventilators across the country. We are open for rigorous trials at the hospitals too, and so far two trials have been conducted at hospitals in Cuttack. We want this to be well-equipped and more developed, in case required, so that common people are benefited and the number of deaths due to lack of ventilators also comes down," the student added.
"In case there is shortage of ventilators, people encountering breathing issues can use this air-pumping device. It will ensure there is constant supply of oxygen at least for some hours. I hope this will prove to be extremely beneficial for patients," says Bishnupriya Senapati, Ananya's mother.
Speaking on the device, Dr Pranabananda Patra posted at the Bhanjanagar hospital as a medicine specialist, said, "When the device is connected to oxygen cylinders, the supply will be more concentrated and it will help Covid patients and all those suffering from breathing problems. So, I think it will be helpful."
https://youtu.be/7XFcCJ3nxZg