Guide to Designing Low Cost Ventilators for COVID-19

[Tom.G]

It's a 15 minute video showing and explaining some of the non-obvious reasons that the $50 ventilators don't work.

For some of the low-cost designs see:
https://makerfaire.com/maker/entry/71747/

Cheers,
Tom

 

[berkeman]

non-obvious reasons that the $50 ventilators don't work.

Oh my, that's brutal. As they say in the video, these folks are well-meaning, but so many important features can't be implemented with simple BVM-based ventillation, especially with such sick lungs. Thanks for the video.

 

[256bits]

Whoa. Some of those "designs" are just totally irresponsible, useless, and creepy.

Questions:
1. What ever happened to the iron lung. Wasn't that using negative pressure.
2. We don't yet have an artificial lung to pass the blood through to oxygenate and de-carbonate. Based on fuel cell technology that has become more mature - ie transfer of ions through a membrane, although here we would be dealing with concentration of molecules.
3. What if had another animal "breath" for the patient, passing the blood through their system. Problems with that no doubt, besides the ethical questions arising.

 

[berkeman]

What ever happened to the iron lung.

Yeah, I had the same thought. It looks like there would still be problems, but at least the alveoli are less at risk when negative pressure is used. Probably the large size is one drawback...

 

[berkeman]

Interesting Wikipedia article...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_lung

The use of iron lungs is largely obsolete in modern medicine, as superior breathing therapies have been developed[citation needed], and due to the eradication of polio in most of the world.[5] However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic revived some interest in the device as a cheap, readily-producible substitute for positive-ventilation ventilators, which were feared to be outnumbered by potential victims temporarily needing artificially assisted respiration.[6][7][8][9]

 

[Tom.G]

2. We don't yet have an artificial lung to pass the blood through to oxygenate and de-carbonate.

Ahh! But we do.
It's called "ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation" or ECMO.

I presume its the same technology used in Heart-Lung machines used during open-heart surgery.

https://www.google.com/search?&q=extracorporeal+membrane+oxygenation

(ain't technology great?)

Cheers,
Tom