As the world continues to battle the deadly coronavirus, one of the most valuable weapons that have been difficult to get a hold of is a ventilator. According to Wall Street Journal, engineers from Rice University have come up with an innovative solution by creating a low-cost ventilator. 

The prototype ventilator is made using 3-D printed parts and hobby-store materials for possible use by COVID-19 patients in dire need of breathing machines. Hospitals around the world could use this as a substitute ventilator to the thousands of patients who need it as the crush of the coronavirus cases climbs in the coming weeks.

An emergency medicine doctor at Baylor College of Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice, a Houston research university, Rohith Malya describes the situations now in hospitals as a "rolling tide of disaster."

ApolloBVM: Low-cost Ventilator

The team that built this low-cost ventilator is made up of six members who are undergraduate students, five engineering faculty, and staff members. They worked tirelessly inside of the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen at Rice University.

Engineering Design Supervisor at Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, Danny Blacker, said that their team designed a solution to bridge the gap between having a ventilator and having nothing. With the shortage of ventilators, they found that the VPMs are the most likely the best solution for helping keep a patient alive in those interim times.

The ventilator, nicknamed ApolloBVM, was already in the works last year presented by the undergraduates as part of their senior design project last year. (See image on Rice University Facebook Page)

It weighs 8 pounds and could be mass-produced for less than $300 each, according to Dr. Malya, the team's adviser. The ventilator can be used now at hospitals short on conventional ventilators, possibly in Houston under emergency after the Food and Drug Administration has relaxed some restrictions on lifesaving equipment, given the extreme demand and need.

According to The Economic Times,  current ventilators in the US is around $30,000. That means the innovative ventilator only costs 1% of the conventional machines. 

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How It Works

Conventional ventilators used in hospitals blow oxygenated air directly into a patient's lungs at a controlled rate and volume that weigh hundreds of pounds and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Dr. Malya said that it usually takes five to ten days to manufacture, depending on the global supply-chain process, and also conventional ventilators require hundreds of different parts.

But the ventilator that the Rice engineering is building can function 80 percent of what a full-size ventilator can do, and less severely ill patients can also use it. 

Dr. Malya added that the automated ventilator could also replace the use of manual pumping air into a patient's lungs using bag-valve masks to help medical professionals. As they tire rapidly doing it and may risk infecting themselves as well.

Thomas Herring, a senior at Rice University in computer engineering and robotics and the project leader, said that the bag-valve-mask is the linchpin of ApolloBVM prototype, surrounding the bag valve are two automated arms to pump the valve.

Creating more ventilators

The distribution of ventilators around the U.S. is uneven. With 60,000 to 160,000 ventilators available, the New York City caregivers have access to about 3,500. They requested an additional 15,000 from the Federal government but have only received 2,360 so far, according to a city spokeswoman.

To meet demand, even car manufacturers have committed to making ventilators, and device maker Medtronic has also shared a ventilator that other manufacturers can use. Meanwhile, engineers, doctors, and computer engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are also building and testing an inexpensive ventilator for emergency use.

Also Read: Toyota's CEO Gives an Inspiring Message About COVID-19 to People Around the World

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