Scientists design ventilator made entirely of standard parts

A project team of scientists active in the Medical Delta region is testing the first prototypes of a ventilator consisting entirely of standard parts. These parts are locally available almost everywhere in the world and are made by hundreds of manufacturers. As a result, the ventilator can in many cases be assembled locally. The design hopes to be able to respond to the demand for ventilators and the logistical problems there are to produce these due to a shortage of specific parts.

The project team of scientists consists of engineers from the Biomechanical Engineering department of the 3ME faculty of TU Delft. They work together with clinicians at Erasmus MC and LUMC. This exchange of knowledge between engineers and clinicians is typical for Medical Delta collaborations. The project team is led by Prof. Amir Zadpoor, Professor at TU Delft and a scientific leader of the Medical Delta program Regenerative Medicine 4D.

Part of Air for All

This project is part of Air for All, an umbrella initiative of TU Delft that consists of three projects. The first project is OperationAIR, where a team of students developed the AIRone within just a few weeks. This is a working prototype of a simplified ventilator that is relatively easy to scale up and can serve as an emergency solution in the event of a shortage of regular ventilators. The second project is being carried out by Gerwin Smit and his team. They are currently developing a mechanical ventilator inspired by a ventilator from the 1960s, which is actually one of the objects in the medical collection at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave. The design of the mechanical ventilator is such that anyone can easily construct and repair it, even in less developed countries. 

Design available in open source within a few weeks; clinical tests needed 

The final design and the results of extensive safety, reliability, and durability tests will be published publicly. This is expected within a few weeks. With this design, the prototype can be recreated anywhere in the world and be tested clinically, which is a crucial step that is yet to be made.

In addition to using standard industrial parts that are stocked and certified everywhere, the ventilator is designed to enable continuous production even when one runs out of some hard-to-find components. This is achieved by incorporating multiple ways for performing the same function in the design of the ventilator. Such a strategy should also enable local manufactures anywhere in the world to mass produce the ventilator when shortages are imminent. Another starting point for the design has been that the ventilator should be as close as possible to a "regular" ventilator - not only in terms of functionality, but also in terms of reliability and safety.

Thanks to united forces, a working prototype was designed in just a few weeks. “It is unbelievable to see how our group, mainly consisting of PhDs and postdocs of 3ME, got to work with this project. But the input of the clinicians from the LUMC and Erasmus MC in the initial phase is also very valuable in making the design applicable for clinical practice. What helps, is that we are used to working together in this way. Everything you need can be brought together in a short time,” says Prof. Amir Zadpoor. “Everyone within TU Delft, from management to, for example, the financial department and secretaries who ordered standard parts for us at lightning speed, have put their shoulders to the wheel. To me, they are all heroes. In no time we received funding from the TU Delft COVID-19 Response Fund, which enabled us to take the first steps. We hope to scale up further with new financing. Manufacturers and medical technology companies are now also thinking along with us.”

Foto: prof. dr. Amir Zadpoor - (c) Medical Delta / De Beeldredacteur