Can CPAP machines be repurposed to solve the ventilator shortage?

Abstract

The worldwide shortage of medical-grade ventilators is a well-known issue, that has become one of the central topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that these machines are expensive and have long lead times, one approach is to vacate them for patients in critical conditions while patients with mild to moderate symptoms are treated with stripped-down ventilators. We propose a mass-producible solution that can create such ventilators with minimum effort. The central part is a module that can be attached to CPAP machines and repurpose them as low-pressure ventilators. Here, we describe the concept and first measurements which underline the potential of our solution. Our approach may serve as a starting point for open-access ventilator technologies.

Overcoming supply disruptions during pandemics by utilizing found hardware for open source gentle ventilation

“…The COVID-19 pandemic [1] created temporary shortages of medical equipment like ventilators in the U.S. [2] and in Europe [3] as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) locally [4][5][6]. With the recent maturation of distributed manufacturing [7] in the context of small businesses [8], fab labs and makerspaces [9,10], and even in the home [11][12][13][14] there appears to be an opportunity for distributed manufacturing of medical hardware during pandemics [15] and can outlive for future use, especially when needed for short term management [16]. Thus, not only was there a global interest in ventilator production using conventional methods [17][18][19], but also for distributed open source ventilators with various degrees of success [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Overcoming Supply Chain Disruptions During Pandemics by Utilizing Found Hardware for Open Source Gentle Ventilation

“…The COVID-19 pandemic [1] created temporary shortages of medical equipment like ventilators in the U.S. [2] and in Europe [3] as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) locally [4][5][6]. With the recent maturation of distributed manufacturing [7] in the context of small businesses [8], fab labs and makerspaces [9,10], and even in the home [11][12][13][14] there appears to be an opportunity for distributed manufacturing of medical hardware during pandemics [15] and can outlive for future use, especially when needed for short term management [16]. Thus, not only was there a global interest in ventilator production using conventional methods [17][18][19], but also for distributed open source ventilators with various degrees of success [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”