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NASA does things.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced Thursday that, in just 37 days, it has successfully developed a prototype ventilator that can be used to treat patients with COVID-19. The so-called VITAL, an acronym for locally accessible ventilation intervention technology, still needs FDA approval and is intended to release more traditional ventilators for severe cases of COVID.
“We specialize in spacecraft, not medical device manufacturing,” said Michael Jetkins, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a press release. “But excellent engineering, rigorous testing, and rapid prototyping are some of our specialties.”
In particular, the VITAL device is not the slightly altered BiPAP and CPAP, more traditionally used to treat sleep apnea, donated by Elon Musk. It is designed to be used invasively, although it will not last as long as a more traditional fan.
There is.
“Like all ventilators, VITAL requires that patients be sedated and that an oxygen tube be inserted into their airways to breathe,” explains NASA. “The new device would not replace current hospital ventilators, which can last for years and are designed to address a broader range of medical problems. Instead, VITAL is designed to last three to four months and is specifically designed for patients with COVID- 19 “.
In particular, according to NASA, the VITAL was “designed to use parts currently available to potential manufacturers but not compete with the existing supply chain of currently manufactured fans.”
This is a crucial aspect of the design, as fan maker Dräger explained to Mashable in March.
“The new production lines would only generate additional production if the supply industry also doubled,” said spokeswoman Melanie Kamann, “which is impossible in the short term from a regulatory rating perspective.”
By using non-traditional components, the NASA team appears to have found a way to get around this very real constraint.
What’s next Now that the fan is designed, the question is whether and when to go into production. Caltech’s Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships is offering a free VITAL license, and is in the process of contacting the medical industry to see which companies are interested in making the device.
Hopefully a company will bite.
