Emergency ventilator for COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Device Design
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in patients requiring mechanical ventilation.
• Shortages of ventilators exacerbated mortality rates in overwhelmed healthcare systems.
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a common complication necessitating mechanical support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To rapidly design, prototype, and test an emergency ventilator (EV) for COVID-19 patients.
• To leverage additive manufacturing (AM) for accelerated medical device development.
• To provide open-source designs for widespread accessibility and rapid deployment.

Main Methods:

• Iterative design, additive manufacturing (AM), and testing cycles.
• Parametric dimension variation for 16 ventilator components, producing 283 parts.
• Engineering evaluation and animal testing of 75 functional prototypes, with over two million test cycles.

Main Results:

• A functional emergency ventilator (EV) prototype was developed within one week.
• AM facilitated rapid iteration and production of multiple prototypes.
• The EV controls peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), breathing rate, and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP).

Conclusions:

• Additive manufacturing enables ultra-fast design, engineering, and testing of critical medical devices.
• The developed emergency ventilator designs are freely available, promoting global accessibility.
• This project highlights the potential of rapid prototyping for emergency medical response during pandemics.