The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh (AIIMS Rishikesh) have jointly developed an advanced feature low-cost ICU ventilator. Named ‘Prana-Vayu', the ventilator can be used for various life-threatening medical conditions requiring a life support system.
A statement issued by AIIMS said: “The Prana-Vayu' ventilator which is specially designed to keep the cost low and at the same time to incorporate all the features of an advanced ICU ventilator in it. AIIMS Rishikesh has called this ventilator successful in terms of medical technology after due testing done in various Medical Conditions.”
The ventilator was developed about two-and-a-half months ago jointly by teams in IIT Roorkee and AIIMS Rishikesh. A team of doctoral and undergraduate students of IIT Roorkee helped the inventors at different stages of development, added the statement. The team of inventors include Dr Debendra Tripathy from the department of anaesthesiology, AIIMS Rishikesh and Prof. Akshay Dvivedi and Prof. Arup Kumar Das, both from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee.
A five-member team of AIIMS doctors confirmed its technology and the reliability after testing it at the Advanced Simulation Lab of AIIMS. The advanced features and the low cost of the ventilator are considered as a boon to the medical field.
Prana-Vayu To Manage Range of Critical Illnesses
As per the statement issued, the low-cost ventilator is equipped with “state-of-the-art technology and facilities, to manage a wide range of critical illnesses”. The control and monitoring of the ventilator can be done wirelessly.
The ventilator, as per the statement, is designed in such a way that it can be used even in makeshift ICU or ICUs without a compressed air supply. The team has built the ventilator using Make in India components, thus substantially reducing the cost of the ventilator.
AIIMS Director Professor Ravikant, in a statement, added: “This ventilator has been developed at a time when the global pandemic is underway, and when there are not enough ventilators available for the treatment of Corona patients.”
“This collaborative achievement of AIIMS Rishikesh with IIT Roorkee will undoubtedly prove to be a boon in saving the lives of patients with severe conditions”, he added.
Prof. Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee said: “This ventilator uses only indigenous components and can become a torchbearer of the government's Make in India campaign.”
