DIY Ventilators...
I've done a few blogs about medical ventilators and my research continues. Trying to find a listed price for one is like getting a quote on a used car. They want your information before making an offer. Lots of models and lots of options. I did see a wide range for new premium machines listed in the range of $25,000 to $50,000.The purpose of a ventilator is to pump oxygen/air into the patients lungs where they are unable to do it on their own. Typically, in the case of pneumonia, the air sacs (alvelous) are swollen, filled with fluids and unable to remove carbon dioxide and exchange with oxygen.
Bring on the tube... Intubation is a standard procedure where a tube is place down the throat into the esophagus. The patient is sedated under general anesthesia and given a muscle relaxer.
All procedures have risks. hear that? ALL PROCEDURES HAVE RISKS!!
When air is forced into fluid filled lungs there is damage to the air sacs and soft tissues of the lungs. In the case of respiratory virus that plays a part of the damage, more damage occurs from pneumonia and additional damage is caused by the ventilator.
Part of the ventilators function is to monitor pressure, oxygen & carbon dioxide exchange, breathing rate, temperature. I cringed hearing that GM is slated to make ventilators. I cringed again when Tesla got into ventilator prototyping using the control computer from the model 3. They are going against companies who have been making and refining dedicated medical products for many years. Ventilator start-up ventures could have disastrous results.
The story I read today takes the prize.
Mississippi doctor uses garden hose, lamp timer and electronic valve to create makeshift ventilators
I won't go into too much detail, but a pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Charles Robertson from the University of Mississippi Medical Center has made a ventilator with supplies from a hardware store.
Less than $100 using a garden hose, lamp timer and electronic valve, he can build a ventilator in 20 to 30 minutes!
According to the doctor "The brain behind the thing is actually a lamp timer"
Most of the reviews have been positive, but I can't get around that no one mentioned (or did they forget) anything used in a hospital needs to have FDA approval.
Me thinks the doctor's been watching too many episodes of MacGyver.
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I actually found a Chinese based medical equipment company who produce ICU ventilators at a rate of 300 per year and can get one out to you in 10 days after payment.
This must be similar to the $25,000 model.
For the record... DIY means Do It Yourself
Comments (16)
Still alive and kickin'
Thanks for asking
This pandemic will be over soon and then we can pick up our lives.
Last year when I did construction work I was buying N95 masks from The Home Depot only to find out later these have the same rating as the ones used in the medical field.
Tonight, the president was explaining the demand for medical equipment where a hospital that normally has 3 ventilators is requesting thousands.
It's not going to be over soon and if we're smart we would have the ability to repress a second wave of virus that is predicted if we 'get back' to normal too soon.
Let's say it's over in 2 months. What happens to the 40,000 surplus ventilators?
Should they go into the Federal government stockpile, someone has to maintain them or have unexpected failures... like the ones we pulled from storage that didn't work!
"The brain behind the thing is actually a lamp timer"
Some doctors are raising questions about how ventilators are currently being used on coronavirus patients — and whether they may actually be doing more harm than good.
article link:
Early reporting on coronavirus deaths from China, Italy and the U.S. show that more than half — and as many as two-thirds — of COVID-19 patients who are placed on ventilators don’t survive.
Within this link it shows the mask i was trying to show you.