Project OpenAir

This is a Pressure Regulation device.

A simple mechanical ventilator intended as a last resort to ventilate COVID-19 patients. The prototype implements the pressure-controlled continuous mandatory ventilation mode (PC-CMV) with settable breathing rates, inspiration/expiration time ratios and FiO2 modulation.

Summary Specs:

• This is a Pressure Control Ventilation, (PCV) device.
• What is the plateau pressure range? 0 to 45 cmH2O
• PIP? 20 to 40 cmH2O
• Does it have PEEP? Yes, 0 to 20 cmH2O.
• Does it have an alarm? Yes, low and high PIP and PEEP alarms.
• Does it have a backup battery? No battery required, oxygen fed from hospital supply at set pressure.
• Breathing rate? 12 to 25 breaths per minute (bpm).
• I/E ratio? 1:2 to 1:3
• What does the interface display? No interface, pressure set using water columns.
• How long can it run without interruption? Electrovalves - at least 40 days of
  normal operation without any malfunction or unusual (ordinarily modest) warming; pressure regulator was subject to 5 full days of continuous operation, corresponding to at least 20 days of normal operation.

The objective of this project is to build a ventilator model with low cost and accessible components that could be easily replicated anywhere and help save thousands of lives.

The development of this project has the contribution of LIP, UNIDEMI, FCT UNL, Nova Medical School, ICNAS, Harvard University, the companies Tucab and Gavedra, and two Portuguese engineers working for Formula 1 teams.

The patent has been registered in the name of Humanity, so no commercial gains from this innovation are possible.

Publicly available: No
Countries where available: This is an open source ventilator design/tested prototype. The design can be used to manufacture ven
Price range: Free
Offered or can be licensed for local manufacture: Yes

Documentation, article, or review
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