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Medical Ventilator Design

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Gandalf_Sr:
So here we are in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic and I imagine that I'll be stuck at home through the end of April.  I'm going to try to come up with an affordable (around $1,000) medical ventilator design.  How difficult can it be?  All it is is a processor on a PCB, a display, some driver components a fan driven by a motor, some code, and some sort of remote control/monitoring via wireless.

Rather than start from a blank piece of paper, can anyone share any designs or specific component ideas?   In particular, the motor is an area I'd  look for advice on.

How about the requirement specifications? What does it need to do?

Let's get at it?

Gathered Information
This section will expand as I will update it as I go along.

Is the Need Already Being Met? last update 3/31/20
Probably, the hackaday article (well worth reading) says this...

--- Quote ---The companies that make the necessary machinery are well aware of the problem and are ramping up production as quickly as they can. In addition to increasing production of the right kinds of ventilators, they are looking at CPAP and BiPAPs and non-life-support ventilators and exploring ways to take these medical devices with all of the appropriate safety mechanisms and certifications already in place and production lines already set up, and trying to find ways to adapt them to the specific needs for COVID-19.
--- End quote ---

But these CPAP/BIPAP machines are expensive ($1,700) and unlikely to be widely available in places like Africa.  The BIPAP machine I use every night is likely already capable of becoming a ventilator with a software update, more complicated tubing to capture the exhaled air, and more sensors.  I believe it already has the air capacity, the level of control to sense and adjust the air pressure instantaneously (that's what it seems like to me when using it).  What may be as useful as the cheap ventilator is perhaps a portable power supply unit as there are many people living with no electricity (or a supply that cuts off regularly).

TK:
I started gathering information this week, and so far I found:

1) Heat and humidify the air
2) Filter bacteria and particles
3) Air needs to be pushed at a very controlled pressure (too much pressure and it can damage the lung)

So you need to control the flow, pressure, temperature

https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/ventilators-101-what-they-do-and-how-they-work/

TK:
More information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-ventilator-supply-specification/rapidly-manufactured-ventilator-system-specification

koba30:
Hi, check this page
https://e-vent.mit.edu/

profdc9:
One question I might ask is what resources do you assume are available to those who might construct a ventilator?

I have been working on other issues and grappling with the fact that a lot of resources are currently unavailable.  For example, there is a shelter-in-place order where I live, so that many stores are closed.  A lot of stuff from Amazon is well on backorder if it's available at all.  Constructing such items in this environment will require resourcefulness.  I am not counseling despair here, but just trying to establish the boundaries of a feasible design at this time.

https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/
https://e-vent.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DMD-2010-MIT-E-Vent.pdf
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/pandemic-ventilator-coronvirus-hospitals-1.5493830
https://www.wmfe.org/uf-experts-collaborate-to-design-a-diy-ventilator-for-covid-19-crisis/150270

It is interesting to see what others have started with for their designs.   The instructables design uses valves while the MIT design uses cams to sequence the inhale/exhale.

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