It reportedly took just one week for Irish entrepreneur Colin Keough and Berkeley-based technologist Gui Cavalcanti to design and produce an open-source 3-D ventilator prototype. They led the effort with the help of 300 engineers, researchers and medical professionals crowd-sourced on Facebook.
Ventilators are desperately needed around the world as Coronavirus cases grow exponentially. The speed, low cost and relative simplicity with which these units can be sourced and produced show great promise.
The prototype now enters a validation phase with the Irish Health Services Executive, which could set the stage for fast-track regulatory approvals in developing nations and the United States where the need for ventilators will be acute.
The challenges of bringing any kind of ventilator to market are epic, however. For example, sterilization of 3D units is tricky since the printed plastic bears cavities that collect bacteria. Furthermore, highly trained personnel are needed to monitor and adjust the units and we don’t have enough of these professionals right now.
This pandemic could be an event the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime. As is often the case, however, we can count on engineers and technologists to innovate quickly and heroically. Science matters.
Ventilators are desperately needed around the world as Coronavirus cases grow exponentially. The speed, low cost and relative simplicity with which these units can be sourced and produced show great promise.
The prototype now enters a validation phase with the Irish Health Services Executive, which could set the stage for fast-track regulatory approvals in developing nations and the United States where the need for ventilators will be acute.
The challenges of bringing any kind of ventilator to market are epic, however. For example, sterilization of 3D units is tricky since the printed plastic bears cavities that collect bacteria. Furthermore, highly trained personnel are needed to monitor and adjust the units and we don’t have enough of these professionals right now.
This pandemic could be an event the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime. As is often the case, however, we can count on engineers and technologists to innovate quickly and heroically. Science matters.
Image courtesy of Tech Crunch.