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IIT Roorkee develops low-cost ventilator to overcome shortage during coronavirus crisis

The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) has developed a portable ventilator to assist in combating the coronavirus crisis in India. This closed loop ventilator does not require compressed air and is quite useful when the wards are being converted into ICUs.

The portable ventilator is low-cost and it can be useful in ensuring the safety of COVID-19 patients. Named ‘Pran-Vayu’, this closed loop ventilator has been developed in collaboration with AIIMS, Rishikesh, and is equipped with state of the art facilities.

The device is based on the controlled operation of the prime mover to deliver the required amount of air to the patient. The automated process regulates the pressure and flow rate as the patient breathes in and out. In addition, the ventilator has a system that can control the tidal volume and breath per minute.

The ventilator will be useful in a wide variety of respiratory tract obstructions and is beneficial for patients of all age groups, especially the elderly. The prototype has been tested successfully with general and respiratory specific patients. Additionally, it does not require compressed air to work.

This can be especially useful in cases when there is a need to convert a ward or open area of ​​a hospital into an ICU. It is safe and reliable as it is equipped with real-time spirometry and alarms. It can automatically limit high pressure with an alarm system. In the event of a failure, the circuit opens in the atmosphere, preventing choking.

Some of its additional features are remote monitoring by health professionals, touch screen control of all operating meters, humidity for breathing and temperature control. The manufacturing cost per ventilator is estimated to be Rs. 25,000.

The research team consisted of Professor Akshay Dwivedi and Professor Arup Kumar Das from IIT Roorkee along with online collaboration from Dr Devendra Tripathi from AIIMS Rishikesh. This team was formed only a week ago to develop an accelerated technology to help people in this critical situation of coronavirus. Research and development related work on ventilators began during the lockdown period. This necessitated the development of many parts such as microprocessor-controlled non-return valves, solenoid valves, one-way valves, etc., using the facilities of Tinkering Laboratory of IIT Roorkee.

Professor Akshay Dwivedi, who is the coordinator of Tinkering Laboratory, IIT Roorkee, said, “Pran-Vayu is specially designed for the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a low-cost, safe and reliable model, whose production can be done rapidly. We have successfully obtained the requirement of ventilator by examining it on one lung. It can be used by infants and even overweight adults,” he said.

He said, “Our commercial product will be of an approximate dimension of 1.5 ft × 1.5 ft to ensure easy portability. Today ‘Pran-Vayu’ was presented to over 450 industries in a webinar organized by CII. I am happy to inform that we have received request / consent from many industries for its mass production. We are committed to intensifying the government’s efforts in dealing with the epidemic. This low-cost ventilator will prove to be highly useful for COVID-19 patients, especially when there is a shortage of ventilators.”

Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee while talking about the Yantra said that IIT Roorkee is national institute providing higher education in Engineering, Science, Management, Architecture & Planning, Humanities and Social Sciences. Since its inception in the year 1847, the institute has played an important role in technical human resources and prosperous nation building. In the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2019, the institute has been ranked third among IIT institutes and first among all institutes in India based on citation criteria.

Source: dnaindia.com