An Australian-made ventilator that costs a tenth of the price of existing models has been brought to life — from concept to functioning machine — in just four weeks.

Key points: The rapid manufacture of cheaper equipment could make ICU care accessible to more patients

The rapid manufacture of cheaper equipment could make ICU care accessible to more patients The locally made ventilator does not yet have the approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration

The locally made ventilator does not yet have the approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration The State Government is prioritising how it can bolster its support for more products to be made locally

The OzVader ventilator is the result of a partnership between engineers, Brisbane-based manufacturing company Olitek, intensive care specialists and the Medical Engineering Research Facility (MERF) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

It does not yet have the approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), but the company behind the OzVader said it believed they would be ready to deploy the machine within four weeks.

MERF co-director Professor Ross Crawford said the fact a functional, cheap ventilator could be made so quickly was a silver lining of the global coronavirus pandemic.

"That we could turn around a concept into potentially a product, within a month, is almost unheard of," Professor Crawford said.

He said the project was a testament to what could be achieved quickly when there was cooperation between industries, government, universities and private companies.

Queensland COVID-19 snapshot: Confirmed cases so far: 1,153

Confirmed cases so far: 1,153 Deaths: 6

Deaths: 6 Tests conducted: 1,072,684

Tests conducted: 1,072,684 Active cases: 16 Latest information from Queensland Health.

"I think that's going to be one of the great lessons we learn from this pandemic — that we can do these things better and we can make Australia and Queensland a dynamic research and development hub," Professor Crawford said.

"People overthink intellectual property — it's very rarely of great value and it's one the big impediments to research going out the door."

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The ventilator does not yet have the approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, ( Supplied: OzVader )

Crisis highlights lack of access to ICU equipment

Intensive care specialist at Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital, Dr Kirin Shekar, provided his clinical expertise to the design of the ventilator.

He said the onslaught of COVID-19 had inspired many "garden shed" designs of cheap ventilators, but clinically safe options were not that simple.

"Beyond the pandemic, of course there is a huge inequity in access to intensive care equipment around the world," Dr Shekar said.

He said he had given his expertise to the OzVader because he hoped the rapid manufacture and deployment of cheaper equipment to developing nations would save lives.

"Looking beyond the pandemic, I think initiatives like this can actually make ICU care accessible to a larger number of patients who currently don't have access to ICU," Dr Shekar said.

Dr Kirin Shekar provided his clinical expertise to the design of the ventilator. ( ABC News: Stephanie Zillman )

That was also the goal of the company behind the project.

Mechanical engineer James Oliver, the managing director of Olitek — the company manufacturing the OzVader — is more accustomed to working in robotics engineering in the mining industry.

"We didn't want to get in the way of the supply chain of the already stressed medical industry, so we decided to go down the route of sourcing industrial components," Mr Oliver said.

Those industrial sources included rubber and electrical components also from Queensland-based companies.

"We've used about a tenth of the parts [of other ventilators], and we can achieve for about a tenth of the cost, something that will serve the purpose," Mr Oliver said.

The company manufacturing the OzVader is more accustomed to working in robotics engineering in the mining industry. ( ABC News: Stephanie Zillman )

Crisis a time to look at local capacity, Queensland Government says

Queensland Manufacturing Minister Cameron Dick said the State Government was prioritising how it could bolster its support for more products to be made locally.

"I think one thing we've learnt from COVID-19 is that we need to back ourselves — we need to make more things in Queensland," Mr Dick said.

He said while there had already been a number of initiatives aimed at achieving more local manufacturing, the coronavirus pandemic had strengthened the resolve of governments to change procurement processes.

"We need to do more to manufacture personal protective equipment and medical equipment in our state," he said.

"Queensland and Australia are exposed because of long supply chains that run to other parts of the world and the links in those supply chains can be broken — broken by forces out of our control.

"We've got to ensure we can support manufacturers and our health system by producing and purchasing more of that equipment in our state, and I'm confident that will be the case going forward."