Treatment
Title:
3D printed medical ventilators
Short description:
Production of medical ventilators by using 3D printers and lasers, with lower production cost and in shorter production time compared to the standard industry approach.
Author:
University of Kragujevac
Requested Budget:
40.500 USD (co-funding ensured)
Time frame:
3 months
Problem: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for ventilators has increased globally, given that in the cases of the most severe form of the disease this medical device has been necessary to save lives. At the same time the number of available ventilators in many countries, including Serbia was estimated as insufficient, resulting in higher demand on the global market, which apart from raising the price of ventilators made the import more difficult. Considering the risk of a second wave of coronavirus and the usage of ventilators in cases of patients with other severe respiratory issues, this device is important for building resilience of the health system.
Solution: By using 3D printers and lasers, this solution enables the production of affordable medical ventilators in Serbia. Based on the knowledge and resources developed by a research initiative Open Source Mechanical Ventilator, this prototype has original modifications to the mechanical part of the ventilator for better device characteristics. Compared to the standard industry approach to ventilator production it requires fewer resources in terms of materials, equipment and manpower, making the production process and the final product much cheaper and the manufacturing time significantly shorter. The production capacity once the design is finalized is one ventilator per day and the proposed scale of the production is 30 ventilators.
Additional info: The team is in the final prototyping phase and has already consulted with medical staff in the Kragujevac Clinical Centre. They are considering registration with the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia, to register the ventilator as a medical device for research purposes. Given the length of the certification process, this project could help build Serbia's long-term capacities in producing affordable ventilators.