Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Sprint Day 2: What developing world substitutions are there for flow meters?
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MK14:

--- Quote from: dietert1 on April 18, 2020, 06:01:02 am ---At SEAT car factory in Martorell in Spain they needed one week to setup a production of 300 devices per day. They are using on stock wiper motors plus SMPS blocks to operate rubber ventilation bags. The device has about 110 parts. Volume per cycle can be adjusted mechanically, speed gets adjusted by supply voltage. Apparently medical doctors preferred something that doesn't need supervision.
Don't know how they control the exhaust valve and i did not read about backup batteries. That virus changes everything.

https://www.seat-mediacenter.com/newspage/allnews/company/2020/From-making-cars-to-ventilators.html

Regards, Dieter

--- End quote ---

That is amazing!

But they had the needed ingredients, to do it that quickly.

The right engineers, in the some building/organisation, who knew each other (presumably or mostly).
The test dummy thing, to test out the prototypes.

A massive manufacturing plant, with recently suspended production.

To try to do it as a thread (here), open source, didn't seem like a good idea. The chap/OP (sorry), didn't seem to have the right skills set, to make it happen.
Simon:

--- Quote from: dietert1 on April 18, 2020, 06:01:02 am ---At SEAT car factory in Martorell in Spain they needed one week to setup a production of 300 devices per day. They are using on stock wiper motors plus SMPS blocks to operate rubber ventilation bags. The device has about 110 parts. Volume per cycle can be adjusted mechanically, speed gets adjusted by supply voltage. Apparently medical doctors preferred something that doesn't need supervision.
Don't know how they control the exhaust valve and i did not read about backup batteries. That virus changes everything.

https://www.seat-mediacenter.com/newspage/allnews/company/2020/From-making-cars-to-ventilators.html

Regards, Dieter

--- End quote ---

that still sounds like the type they don't want, no mention of how it interacts with patients without destroying their lungs unless it is used for limited time only.
EEVblog:

--- Quote from: MK14 on April 18, 2020, 09:04:01 am ---To try to do it as a thread (here), open source, didn't seem like a good idea. The chap/OP (sorry), didn't seem to have the right skills set, to make it happen.
--- End quote ---

And dozens of other teams aren't even close.
Hopefully this whole worldwide endeavor shows that going from prototype to a practical working and safe (and approved) medical device is extremely difficult and time consuming.
Gyro:

--- Quote from: dietert1 on April 18, 2020, 06:01:02 am ---At SEAT car factory in Martorell in Spain they needed one week to setup a production of 300 devices per day. They are using on stock wiper motors plus SMPS blocks to operate rubber ventilation bags. The device has about 110 parts. Volume per cycle can be adjusted mechanically, speed gets adjusted by supply voltage. Apparently medical doctors preferred something that doesn't need supervision.
Don't know how they control the exhaust valve and i did not read about backup batteries. That virus changes everything.

https://www.seat-mediacenter.com/newspage/allnews/company/2020/From-making-cars-to-ventilators.html

Regards, Dieter

--- End quote ---

I'm surprised that wiper motors have the durability to run 24/7. They run in good airflow under the scuttle panel and normally don't have a high long term duty cycle. Maybe they can get away with it due to reduced mechanical load (?).

There again, the only ones I've examined are those that have failed due to exposure to the elements and age.
MK14:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on April 18, 2020, 11:57:16 am ---
--- Quote from: MK14 on April 18, 2020, 09:04:01 am ---To try to do it as a thread (here), open source, didn't seem like a good idea. The chap/OP (sorry), didn't seem to have the right skills set, to make it happen.
--- End quote ---

And dozens of other teams aren't even close.
Hopefully this whole worldwide endeavor shows that going from prototype to a practical working and safe (and approved) medical device is extremely difficult and time consuming.

--- End quote ---

There are so many potential pitfalls, which are not so obvious to the less experienced.
I'd be especially worried about getting hold of the correct parts, on time.
Typically, you can order a few hundred of a wide range of parts, from the usual electronics parts suppliers, such as Digi-key.
E.g. They might have 153 in stock, of the microcontroller, you have used, for the ventilator.

But, if you need 25,000 of them (or even a few thousand), you may well find there is a huge lead time, of many months.
Substituting other microcontrollers, could well lead to very time consuming software rewrites and retesting again. Especially if the hardware I/O configuration (PWMs etc), is completely different, between the MCUs.
Even just a change of case. could mean re-spinning the PCB.
Mechanical parts (especially if custom), are probably even worse.
I think it usually takes a very long time, perhaps many, many years, for new medical devices, to complete all their extensive safety (critical) tests and approvals.
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