Slovak University of Technology (source: Sme)
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The Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) joined forces with the Matador Group company. They launched a research project with the aim to develop a lung ventilator prototype to help people positively diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The base for the research is the 2010 Design and Prototyping of a Low-cost Portable Mechanical Ventilator study by the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University.
“We’ve engaged our best experts from STU – a team around Ján Vachálek of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and developers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology led by František Duchoň, who proclaimed their ability to make a prototype with improvements,” said STU Rector Miroslav Fikar, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
This project is a response to expectations presented by the Institute of Health Policy, running under the Health Ministry, according to which the Slovak health care system would be able to manage 550 patients who have tested positive with the coronavirus and need lung ventilation without any limitations. In the most critical moments, however, as many as 3,000 people may need ventilation.
Back-up solution
The lung ventilator is a complicated device from a technical point of view, and the prototype cannot be compared to the products of official producers, said Maroš Mudrák of Matador Group.
“It’ll be a back-up solution for extreme situations, which we can unfortunately see in Italy and Spain these days,” Mudrák said, as quoted by SITA. “We want to make a device that will be safe and usable should the supplies of accessible ventilators approved for clinical use be exhausted.”
The team working on the prototype is composed of mechanical engineers and robotics experts, while its development is being discussed with medical specialists.
