The coronavirus pandemic has done a lot to poke holes in the healthcare system, highlighting how woefully underprepared many hospitals are. In particular, there’s a very serious concern regarding the lack of ventilators.
But one mom and engineer in Maryland has discovered a way to turn breast pumps into ventilators, which will hopefully help in the fight to rehabilitate people infected with the virus.
The shortage is real and it’s scary.
It is estimated that there are 200,000 ventilators in hospitals across the U.S., but the Society of Critical Care Medicine estimates that over 960,000 Americans may be in need of one during this crisis.
Thankfully, engineers Brandi and Grant Gerstner, Alex Scott, and Rachel LaBatt are working towards helping bridge the gap.
“[A breast pump] does pulsing intervals. It is a sanitize-able biomedical device that’s approved by the [FDA]. You know they’re reliable, they’ve been used by moms everywhere for decades. What if I could reverse it?” Brandi said to The BayNet .
“[So], I grabbed my old one from the basement, grabbed a screwdriver and an X-Acto knife… Sure enough, you can turn it around very, very easily.”
There are also a number of added safety features the team can adjoin to the breast pumps.
Safety valves, backflow filters, and an electronic safety release are all added elements that would ensure the ventilators would work for coronavirus patients.
The team says this is a ‘rapidly deployable’ solution, but they still need approval.
They need a review from a pulmonologist and biomedical simulation data before they can apply for FDA approval. However, thanks to recent changes made by the FDA in light of the dire need for medical devices, they’d be able to get up and running quicker than usual.
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Their solution is much more cost-effective, too.
A traditional ventilator costs anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000, Brandi says. But the group’s breast pump solution can be constructed for only $500.
‘Our ‘good’ would look like rapidly getting into a high-quality biomedical simulation lab, and getting into a hospital.’
“I’m very hopeful that we can find the right collaborators in the biomedical community to get this design validated and replicated as quickly as possible,” Brandi said.
To donate new and old breast pumps, or to make a financial donation to the project, email [email protected].
Information about the coronavirus pandemic is rapidly changing and Diply is committed to providing the most recent data as it becomes available. Some of the information in this story may have changed since publication, and we encourage readers to use online resources from CDC and WHO to stay up to date on the latest information surrounding COVID-19.
