BENGALURU: India’s first

-- set up this year in Kochi, under Kerala Startup Mission in collaboration with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) — has developed the working prototype of a low-cost

that can provide respiratory support to Covid-19 patients suffering from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) using only readily available local components.

The Kochi Super Fab Lab has also published the detailed design of the product so that all states can locally manufacture it in large quantities. Super fab labs are fabricaton laboratories that provide digitally fabrication solutions to manufacturing sector.

One hundred units will be manufactured from the Kanjikode industrial belt and sent for validation soon. The Kerala government is expected to place an initial order, soon after validation.

India is currently struggling to scale up manufacturing of ventilators as the number of Covid-19 patients continue to grow. The reason: the absence of electronics components in the country, say the ventilator makers from Kochi. The blanket ban on international flights has also left manufacturers scrambling to procure components such as chips and sensors from suppliers in China.

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As per a report published by ICMR, half of the Covid-19 patients in 'Critical Stage' will need to undergo intubation and be given mandatory ventilation, without which they cannot survive. At present, ventilators are mainly imported, assembled in India or partially produced here.

“India does not have a single indigenously manufactured ventilator as some of the components used are imported. The respiratory device we have developed is different from other ventilator designs in two aspects- the type of ventilation it supports and the ability to manufacture this locally. The device is designed taking into consideration the ease of availability of components within India. For example the motor used is the wiper motor of a car, which will be available in plenty in India,” said Tom Thomas, director of operations at Kerala Startup Mission.

The working prototype, designed and created at the Kochi Super Fab Lab, is ready after preliminary tests conducted using a test lung. The current features include the ability to control the tidal volume, breaths per minute and PEEP (Positive end-expiratory pressure) and the team of creators at the lab is currently working on converting the design into a manufacturable version that can be taken to production by industries.