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- Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory built a ventilator for coronavirus patients in just 37 days.
- The fan, known as VITAL, can be produced to scale faster than traditional fans and could help increase the supply of life-saving hardware in the areas most affected by the pandemic.
- Visit the BGR home page for more stories.
For those with the most severe reactions to the new coronavirus, assisted breathing is often vital. Unfortunately, the machines that efficiently provide such assistance are scarce in some areas, and hospitals with poor ventilation have struggled to ensure that all their patients receive the treatment they need and deserve.
So what kind of organization would have the resources and knowledge to develop a complex machine like a fan in no time? The same type of organization that sends humans into space to live in orbiting labs, of course! NASA engineers working at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed a high-pressure ventilator designed specifically for coronavirus patients, and they did it in just 37 days.
The group calls the device VITAL, short for locally accessible Ventilation Intervention Technology, and they hope it can help reduce pressure on the nation’s supply of fans already in circulation.
“We specialize in spacecraft, not medical device manufacturing,” said Michael Watkins, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “But excellent engineering, rigorous testing, and rapid prototyping are some of our specialties. When the people at JPL realized that they might have what it takes to support the medical community and the community at large, they felt it was their duty to share their ingenuity, experience, and drive. ”
Okay, it was built by NASA engineers, but does that mean it’s really good? Actually, yes, according to doctors at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai. After the prototype was built, it was shipped to Mount Sinai for rigorous testing and feedback for engineers.
“We are very pleased with the results of the tests we conducted in our high-fidelity human simulation laboratory,” said Dr. Matthew Levin, associate professor of anesthesiology, preoperative medicine and pain, and genetic and genomic science at the Faculty of Medicine of Icahn. said. “The NASA prototype performed as expected in a wide variety of simulated patient conditions. The team is confident that the VITAL ventilator will be able to safely ventilate patients with COVID-19 both in the United States and around the world. “
But you can’t just build a fan, show off to doctors, and expect it to be produced and used in the real world. That’s where the NASA government agency comes in. The organization now hopes to get quick approval from its friends at the FDA so that VITAL, which NASA says can build faster than traditional fans, can be deployed in areas where it is most needed.
Image Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, handheld devices, smartphones, and future technology.
Most recently, Mike served as technical editor at The Daily Dot, and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other websites and in print. His love for
the reports are second only to his addiction to games.
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