I thought it important to discuss the heroes and innovators that have stepped up to the plate to help prevent the shortage of ventilators. I found two articles that discuss how different engineers have come together to design new ventilators.
The CNN article discusses Victor Radulescu, an engineer who works to design space rockets for Virgin Orbit. Early on in his career, Radulescu worked for a medical device manufacturing company which gave him extensive knowledge and experience on ventilators used in hospitals. When word reached Virgin Orbit of the impending ventilator shortage, Radulescu and his team began working on a solution to this problem. The team put together a much less sophisticated ventilator that could be manufactured at a fraction of the time that it would normally take to make a traditional ventilator. The second article discusses a team of engineers at MIT that came together to develop an inexpensive alternative to ventilators. In just four weeks, the team was able to design and begin production on their device called spirowave. Although their design does completely replace a traditional ventilator, it is mean to provide key ventilation functions to reduce the pressure on healthcare facilities so they can better ration ventilators for the most critical patients.
- By: Laura Palacio Morales