NASA’s Vital Fans to Combat COVID-19 Get FDA Approval

As the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread around the world, NASA halted its usual space-related activities and began developing a fan prototype to help combat the deadly virus. The newly developed fan has just received emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration or the FDA.

NASA VITAL gets FDA approval

The new NASA or VITAL ventilator was developed by engineers from the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help cope with the drop in supply of traditional ventilators for COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory distress. Here, VITAL expands on locally accessible ventilation intervention technology.

The NASA VITAL project was developed under the Emergency Use authorization and the engineers developed a prototype in just 31 days. Recalling, tea tested the machine on April 21 and awaited approval for mass production. Obtaining FDA approval is an important achievement for NASA, especially in times of crisis.

“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 they improve life on Earth, “said Jim Bridenstine, head of NASA. in a sentence.

How does NASA VITAL help?

The VITAL ventilator is one of several devices developed by the leading space agency to help combat the deadly virus. VITAL has a couple of key advantages over traditional fans. For one, it can be built faster and maintained more easily than traditional fans.

“Additionally, it is made up of far fewer parts, many of which are currently available to potential manufacturers through existing supply chains,” NASA said. The device can also be modified for use in field hospitals, such as those in some convention centers and hotels across the country, the agency explained.

Plus, NASA’s VITAL ventilator is designed to last up to four months, an added bonus in times of health emergencies and power outages. At the same time, it should be noted that the new ventilator is certainly not a replacement for dedicated traditional hospital ventilators, which are required in extreme cases of deteriorating patient health.