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Designed to treat patients with COVID-19, NASA’s new easy-to-build high-pressure ventilator was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday, May 1. The device called VITAL (Locally Accessible Fan Intervention Technology) was developed by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
The ventilator is designed to treat patients with milder symptoms, thus maintaining the country’s limited supply of traditional ventilators available for patients with more severe symptoms of COVID-19.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said: “This FDA clearance is a key milestone in a process that exemplifies the best of what the government can do in times of crisis.”
He added: “This fan is one of countless examples of how taxpayer investments in space exploration – the skills, experience, and knowledge gathered over decades of pushing boundaries and achieving early accomplishments for humanity – translate into advances that improve life on Earth. ”
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According to the press release on the NASA website, the Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA, now offers a free license for VITAL. Furthermore, they are also reaching out to the commercial medical industry to find manufacturers for the device.
Fred Farina, director of innovation and corporate partnerships at Caltech, said authorities are working to “pass the baton” to the medical community and ultimately care for patients.
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Faster and easier to maintain.
The NASA team detailed that VITAL can be built faster and maintained more easily than a traditional fan. It is also made up of far fewer parts, many of which are currently available to potential manufacturers through existing supply chains. In addition, with a flexible design, the device can also be modified for use in field hospitals that are installed in convention centers, hotels and other high-capacity facilities around the world.
The device, like all ventilators, will require patients to be sedated and an oxygen tube inserted into their airways to breathe. NASA also reported that VITAL would not replace current hospital ventilators, as the device is designed to last only three to four months and is specifically designed for the needs of COVID-19 patients. VITAL is expected to decrease the likelihood that patients will reach that advanced stage of the disease where they require advanced ventilator assistance.
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