OxVent - A rapid prototype ventilator

Information updated: April 20th 2020

This is a pneumatic device.

OxVent has been built with readily available off-the-shelf components and is a safe, simple design that can be easily assembled and operated. It has been designed to be produced at a large scale in a relatively short period of time

Summary Specs:

• This is Pressure Regulated Volume Control (PRVC) device.
• Max Pressure limit – 15 to 35 cmH20
• PEEP range 5 to 20 cmH20
• FiO2 alarms; other alarms required by MHRA may be present
• Displays for Plimit, VT, Resp rate, IE, FiO2, Ppeak, PEEP.
• How long can it run without interruption? (standard is 100% for 14 days)? Undergoing review by MHRA; so, device can potentially run for atleast 14 days but need further information.
• IE ratio – 1:1 to 1:3
• Respiratory rate – 10 to 30 per min
• Tidal volume - 250 to 600 ml

Multidisciplinary team of engineers and medics at the University of Oxford and King’s College London. Leadership: Prof. Andrew Farmery, (consultant anesthetist) Head of the Nuffield Division of Anaesthetic It’s a compressible bag, the sort used to resuscitate patients who have collapsed from cardiac arrest, similar to ones carried in Ambulances. The bag is enclosed within a rigid Perspex box. Compressed air is injected into the rigid Perspex box that squeezes the bladder and pushes air out through some valves and inflates the patient’s chest. There’s a second set of valves that allows gas to come out of the patient’s chest and also out of the rigid Perspex box. So it’s a sort of electro-pneumatic device. Pressure, breath rates, length of inhalation and exhalation , and volume is controlled with a feedback controller using Arduino – a simple opensource microcontroller. Device awaiting MHRA approval. Manufacturer – Smith+Nephew (Hull, UK).

THIS DEVICE IS NOT APPROVED FOR CLINICAL USE YET.

Publicly available: No
Countries where available: United Kingodm - Currently seeking approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Price range: Over 200 USD
Offered or can be licensed for local manufacture: Yes

Documentation, article, or review
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