The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has developed a non-invasive BiPAP ventilator to treat COVID-19 patients.
The machine created by NAL, which is located in Bangalore and a constituent lab under CSIR, is a microcontroller-based precise, closed-loop adaptive control system with a built-in biocompatible 3D printed manifold and coupler with a HEPA filter (highly efficient particulate air filter).
According to a press release, the technology has features like spontaneous, CPAP, timed, AUTO BIPAP modes with the ability to connect an oxygen concentrator or an enrichment unit externally.
The system has been certified for safety and performance, the release mentioned, it has also undergone stringent biomedical tests and beta clinical trials at the NAL Health Centre.
An advantage of the machine is that it is easy to operate. It is cost-effective, compact, and configured. The majority of its components have been indigenously manufactured.
This is ideal for treating COVID -19 patients in wards, make-shift hospitals, dispensaries, and homes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
CSIR-NAL is in the process of getting approval from regulatory authorities; it is expected to get it shortly. CSIR-NAL has already initiated dialogue with major public and private industries as partners for mass production.
A CSIR representative praised the team, which has enabled a spin-off technology based on its expertise in the aerospace design domain.
The Director of CSIR-NAL stated that the ventilator was based on global experience and specific inputs from pulmonologists in India and abroad.
The success is the culmination of efforts by a team of technocrats, medical practitioners, and scientists at NAL, who have worked relentlessly during COVID-19 restrictions, the release added.
Earlier this month, a lab under CSIR developed a robot to help frontline healthcare workers maintain physical distance from those infected by COVID-19.
The device is equipped with various state-of-the-art technologies and works both in automatic as well as manual modes of navigation.
The device is equipped with various state-of-the-art technologies and works both in automatic as well as manual modes of navigation.
This robot can be controlled and monitored by a nursing booth with a control station having such features as navigation, a drawer activation for providing medicines and food to patients, sample collection, and audio-visual communication.
More recently, technologies centres in Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Kolkata started manufacturing critical parts of a real-time quantitative micro PCR system.
The centres, run under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME), are manufacturing the machine, which will provide COVID-19 test results in less than an hour. Normal test results can take at least 24 hours to be processed, as OpenGov reported.
The machine was designed by a private MSME enterprise. They are compact, portable, and affordable to manufacture.
The teams of the technology centres are working to supply components for 600 testing machines. 150 testing machine components have already been supplied to a private healthcare provider. The stainless-steel components have an accuracy of 5 microns and are being manufactured using state-of-the-art technology.
