Ventilators, which are very much in-demand in the management of Covid-19 patients who have difficulty breathing, are currently being developed and mass produced in the country.
Science Secretary Fortunato de la Peña announced at the recent meeting of Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) with President Duterte at Malacañang that the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Ginhawa (ReliefVent) research is making ventilators.
“The average number of ventilators in small hospitals around the Philippines is very small compared to what is really needed. It has also become more difficult to obtain imported ventilators these days due to high demand,” de la Peña said in his presentation, a copy of its video was made available to journalists.
Ventilators are machines that assist in providing air into the lungs of a patient who have difficulty breathing. Covid-19 infect the respiratory tract, making the lungs and airways swell and become inflamed, causing the patient to have difficulty in breathing.
“The DOST’s Ginhawa [ReliefVent] can help in responding to our patients’ needs,” de la Peña said.
He told the IATF-EID that the final production of the ventilators’ three prototypes are being done.
“If the prototypes will work with test patients at ICUs [intensive care units], we can continue with mass production,” he added.
De la Peña said the DOST opened the production of the ventilators to other manufacturers, and has already identified capable electronic companies in mass producing the ventilators.
The Science chief said around eight other groups have submitted their proposals, including those from Don Bosco and Mapua University.
He explained at a televised briefing on Thursday that the portable ventilator under Project Ginhawa was designed by medical experts and pulmonologists from University of the Philippines Manila and UP National Institutes of Health, and by engineers from De La Salle University.
De la Peña added that the Project Ginhawa ventilator was designed even before the Covid-19 pandemic occurred in order to assist hospitals that lack ventilators or respirators.
He said there are small hospitals with a capacity of 10 patients in the ICU but have only one ventilator. So Project Ginhawa was created in order to make ventilators affordable for small hospitals.
The prototypes are lightweight at 8 kilograms and much less expensive compared to imported ventilators.
Embedded with software for self-diagnostic cloud-based data analytic and protocols for operations and trouble-shooting, ReliefVent runs on both AC or DC power.
Based on de la Peña’s report on lack of respirators, President Duterte announced that he will give a P20-million reward to any Filipino who can produce respirators that would be used to treat Covid-19, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a televised news conference.
ITDI’s 3D ventilator splitter
At the same time, the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the DOST, with its Multiple Materials Platform for Additive Manufacturing Project (Matdev) Team is also working on 3D-printing prototypes of parts of the Multiple Patient Ventilator Splitter and Mechanic Ventilator-Mini-War Zone.
Currently, five hospitals in Metro Manila are waiting for their 3D-printed prototypes of ventilator parts, DOST-ITDI said in a news release.
3D-printed respirator valves
With confirmed number of Covid-19 cases increasing, DOST-ITDI Director Dr. Annabelle V. Briones, through its Matdev Team Leader and Materials Science Division Chief Dr. Blessie A. Basilia, delivered two prototypes of 3D-printed respirator venturi valves to the National Children’s Hospital in Quezon City recently to test fit in their existing respirator.
The Matdev Team, using Fused Deposition Modeling and Markforged Mark Two 3D printers, developed the prototype to assist hospitals as they easily run out of respirator valves.
The valves connect patients in intensive care to breathing machines. Respirator venturi valves are commonly used by hospitals worldwide because these can be used for a maximum of eight hours at a time.
Nebulizer
Further, the Matdev Team is improving a nebulizer mask design. It developed a 3D-printed filter attachment for use in commercially available masks, such as the Modified Oxygen Concentrator Mask. The attachment allows for a more efficient way for patients to breathe in medications.
The team members are also producing a 3D-printed prototype of an N95 mask, and are now considering some improvements for its optimum functionality by using nano-enabled filament material, an anti-viral filter cloth, and adding a flexible lining on the edges of the mask.
Face shields
Meanwhile, ITDI recently donated 100 3D-printed frame and face shield assemblies to the Perpetual Help Medical Center in Las Piñas City on April 14.
This augmented an initial donation of 100 of the shield assemblies each to the Philippine Heart Center on March 30, and the Lung Center of the Philippines. Lyn Resurreccion with AMGuevarra/S&T Media Service
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