The Covid-19 crisis has produced a lot of pain, but it has also boosted the solidarity of individuals and companies. Due to the current situation, the main challenge Healthcare is facing is to get more ventilators to help the most serious patients. Therefore, several experts have designed prototypes of ventilators to fight the current pandemic.
“Andalucía not only has very good beaches, an extraordinary culture or an incredible gastronomy, it also has science, technology and industrial capacity”. This has been pronounced by the cardiovascular surgeon of the Regional University Hospital of Malaga Ignacio Diaz de Tuesta during the presentation of the ventilator “Andalucía Breathes”, the name with which it has been renamed. It used to be called “Málaga respira” (Málaga breathes) and is expected to be a “resounding” success.
Another initiative is the innovation and development team of the Graphenglass company from Castellón. They are dedicated to the engineering of graphene for the development of advanced materials, which has altruistically made some pieces available to the health authorities that would allow them to address the possible shortage of hospital lung ventilation devices.
In India, they have not been left behind and have also designed a small respirator to the rescue of hospitals. Originally designed by a robotics scientist and a neurosurgeon to help the poor in India, an inexpensive, toaster-sized respirator could be a key piece of equipment in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Sold for about $2.000, the device costs only one-fifth or less than conventional respirators. Its machine weighs 3.5 kilos, consumes little electricity and could allow patients in a less critical state to be installed in their homes, thus freeing up hospital beds.
“The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is very expensive. In the private sector, even the richest people do not have the means to stay there for long,” explains Diwakar Vaish.
“If you want to turn a hotel into an ICU, you can install the device and start working because it doesn’t need any more infrastructure,” says the robotics scientist.
There is another case, Ashley Lawrence, a 21-year-old student from Kentucky, who has designed masks to protect herself from possible coronavirus infection, which continues to add up to cases throughout the world. The novelty of these masks is that they are intended for the deaf or hearing-impaired community.
Thus, with a sewing machine and the help of her mother, this young woman has created these masks that have the front part that covers the mouth made of transparent material.
“I modified the model to suit those who read lips or who, during communication with sign language, rely on facial expressions to understand meanings and intentions. Facial expressions are part of the grammar of sign language, as is the lip. You lose information if you can’t see the face,” the young woman explains in statements to the Mashable Italy news blog.
Lawrence is using only new sheets and a roll of plastic left over from other manual work as materials to create these masks.
Sources: Innovadores, InfoBae, El Mundo, 20Minutos, ElDía, El Español
