COVID-19: IIT Ropar’s innovative ventilator to treat two at a time

NEW DELHI: The researchers at Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar have come up with a portable ventilator that can provide oxygen to two patients at a time.

The low-cost innovation comes at a time when the country is facing a shortage of ventilators in the fight against coronavirus.

The Times of India quoted the researchers claiming that “the entire set up was developed completely out from scrap and that too in merely two days.”

The report said the research team led by Prabhat K Agnihotri of the mechanical engineering department included research scholars Viney Ghai, Ankit Baranwal and Ajinkya V. Sirsat. Neha Yadav from the chemistry department was also part of the team.

Unique features

A video on the official twitter handle of IIT Ropar says that the new ventilator automatically compresses the ambu bag. In normal ventilators it is manually compressed to supply oxygen to the patient.

The researchers developed a mechanism by which two bags can be squeezed simultaneously, benefitting two patients at a time. It also works as an automated resuscitator, the video explains.

The video explains that currently, one ambu bag costs Rs 1500. The team estimates that the cost will drastically reduce when it is mass produced.

The low cost and easy operation makes it ideal for use in rural areas, the video says.

It can also fit in railway coaches that have been turned into temporary isolation wards for COVID-19 patients.

The team is also working on adding more features to the set-up.

@iitrpr team of researchers developed low cost automatic compression of ambu bag-an automated resuscitator which squeezes two bags and benefit two patients at a time.This low cost ventilators will fight against #IndiaFightsCorona @PMOIndia @PrinSciAdvGoI @IndiaDST @DrRPNishank pic.twitter.com/in8VX6YMkN

— IIT Ropar (@iitrpr) April 3, 2020

Also read:

• Fighting COVID-19: IIT Roorkee develops low-cost portable ventilator
• COVID-19: Research community counters misinformation with “CovidGyan”

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