COVID-19: IIT Roorkee develops low-cost portable ventilator

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee researchers have developed a low-cost portable ventilator that can be used to treat coronavirus patients.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has developed a low-cost portable ventilator that can be used in the fight against novel coronavirus.

The IIT Roorkee said in a statement that these portable ventilators do not require compressed air, hence it can be used when the hospital wards and open areas are converted into Intensive care units (ICUs).

The premier institute has developed these ventilators in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh.

The ventilator has been named as 'Prana-Vayu'. It is based on the controlled operation of the prime mover to deliver the required amount of air to the patients. The automated process in the ventilator controls the pressure and flow rates in the inhalation and exhalation lines.

The prototype of Prana-Vayu has been tested successfully for both normal and patient-specific breathing conditions.

Akshay Dvivedi and Arup Kumar Das from IIT-Roorkee along with online support from Debendra Tripathi from AIIMS, Rishikesh has developed this ventilator.

"Prana-Vayu has been designed in a very short period of time especially for COVID-19 pandemic. It is low-cost, safe, reliable, and can be quickly manufactured. It has successfully achieved the ventilatory requirements on a test lung. It can be used for both infants and even overweight adults," said Akshay Dvivedi, coordinator, Tinkering Laboratory, IIT Roorkee.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus positive cases in India as of April 3 has reached to 2,458 and the death toll stands at 79. The number of cases globally has crossed the one million mark as the global death toll rose to over 45,000.

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