NASA Develops Affordable Ventilator To Combat COVID-19 Medical Supply Shortage
Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed an economic ventilator to prevent the shortage of medical supplies required to treat coronavirus patients. The device was created within 37 days using only one-seventh of the parts needed for regular ventilators to enable rapid mass production during the pandemic.
The equipment is called VITAL, which stands for Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally. The prototype was tested at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Dr J.D. Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, shared that the equipment aims to reduce the chances of patients getting to the advanced stage of the virus, which will “require more advanced ventilator assistance.”
NASA administrators will offer a free license to allow the device to be used in hospitals immediately. It is currently awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
[via Business Times, cover image via NASA/JPL-Caltech]
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