NASA Developed High-Pressure Ventilators In Just 37 Days

Engineers at NASA displayed the high-pressure ventilators they developed in only 37 days. This will surely boost the morale of hospitals who have been shopping for more ventilators as they struggle to keep COVID-19 patients alive, reports say.

The Need For Ventilators

Since coronavirus infection landed on US soil, infected patients have been brought to hospitals complaining of breathing difficulties. Most of them suffer severe reactions to COVID-19 and needed ventilators to help them breathe.

Unfortunately, ventilators are in short supply in some areas in the United States. Hospitals in these areas have been struggling to make sure that all their patients, particularly those who need the assistance of a ventilator, get the treatment they need. Even the federal government has been asking US manufacturers, including car companies, to fill up the ventilator requirement of different hospitals across the country.

Rescue From Unlikely Source

While car manufacturers have said it is possible and signified willingness to build ventilators, they would have to retool their factories. This way, machines that used to build car components can now be used to make ventilators. The problem is it will take time, something that most hospitals do not have.

Enter NASA. Reports say NASA engineers working at its jet Propulsion Laboratory have built a high-pressure ventilator that hospitals can use. Best of all, they were developed with COVID-19 patients in mind and can be built in just 37 days.

Timely Assistance

NASA engineers called their creation VITAL, which is an acronym for Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally. The group hopes their device can help minimize the pressure on the country’s ventilator supply, which is already in circulation.

In an issued statement, the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Michael Watkins, said, “We specialize in spacecraft, not medical-device manufacturing. But excellent engineering, rigorous testing, and rapid prototyping are some of our specialties.” He said that when his team at the JPL realized they might have something to offer to the medical community, the engineers never hesitated a bit. According to Watkins, the engineers felt it was their duty and obligation to share their expertise, ingenuity, and drive.

It Works

Medical professionals at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai revealed that JPL sent them a prototype of the device for rigorous testing. According to Dr. Matthew Levin, they were pleased with the results of the testing conducted on VITAL. He said that they performed the tests in their high-fidelity human simulation lab. Dr. Levin is the Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Preoperative and Pain Medicine, and Genetics and Genomics Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine.

Dr. Levin also said that his team is confident VITAL can safely ventilate COVID-19 patients both in the United States and elsewhere around the world. NASA is now hoping to secure approval from the FDA so that VITAL can be rolled out to places where it is needed the most.