An Indian American couple has invented a lightweight ventilator at a cheaper price and will soon be at its production stage for its availability all over the globe for assisting the healthcare workers involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The couple Devesh Ranjan, a professor and associate chair in the Georgia Tech’s George W Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and Kumuda Ranjan, a practising family physician in Atlanta, executed their idea and came up with the first model of the ventilator within a span of three weeks.
“If you can do manufacturing of scale, it can be produced (item cost) in less than USD 100. Even with a price point of USD 500, they (the manufacturer) would have enough money to make sure that they are making enough profit in the market,” stated Professor Devesh Ranjan.
He gave an estimation that this kind of a ventilator in the US would probably cost USD 10,000.
Devesh Ranjan clearly distinguished an ICU ventilator from theirs. An ICU ventilator has a higher price and is much more sophisticated.
Their Open- AirVentGT has been designed to respond towards acute respiratory distress syndrome which is also the fundamental symptom of being affected by the deadly coronavirus. The victim’s lungs become stiff and need a ventilator to facilitate their breathing.
The ventilator developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology has electronic sensors and computer control to deal with basic factors like respiration rate, inspiration and expiration ratio, tidal volume and pressure on the lungs.
Dr Kumuda Ranjan told, “The whole goal of this project was to make a low-cost makeshift ventilator that gives those controls to the physician”.
The couple’s aim was to develop a cost-effective ventilator that can be easily produced using the available supply chain in India. Keeping in concern the needs of countries like India and Africa, the ventilator has been developed at a minimal cost so that these developing nations can afford to buy these ventilators for the welfare of the patients.
“The impact of this could be significant if other parts of the world are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. 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”, reported Devesh Ranjan.
The couple has currently collaborated with Singapore based Renew group, led by Ravi Sajwan, also an Indian – American from Uttarakhand.
“We have built a wide collaborative network with a single focus of getting more ventilators into the most disadvantaged health systems in the world in order to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19,” Sajwan said.
