NEWS PROVIDED BY
Infinity Concepts
April 15, 2020

TEL AVIV, April 15, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- As hospitals worldwide face a ventilator shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Magen David Adom, Israel's national EMS organization, and a coalition of other Israeli organizations and entrepreneurs, have developed a design for a low-cost ventilator that can be made locally from readily available parts.

"Few countries have seen the apex of coronavirus cases, potentially making the shortage of ventilators even more severe," said Eli Bin, director-general for Magen David Adom. "This design is intended to serve as a rescue device — when smart ventilators aren't available because of demand — until patients can be transitioned to a more sophisticated ventilation device."

In addition to MDA, the coalition included the Israeli Air Force 108 Electronics Depot; physicians from Hadassah and Tel Aviv Sourasky medical centers; Microsoft; Rafael, an Israeli defense contractor; Israeli Aerospace Industries; and mentors and students from FIRST Israel, a student robotics organization.

Hospital ventilators use sophisticated air-pressure controls; the Israeli designed AmboVent, emulates the bag-valve mask ventilators used by paramedics for manually ventilating patients. AmboVent offers controls for respiration rate, volume, and maximum peak pressure.

In recent decades, volume-type ventilation has been replaced by more sophisticated pressure-type ventilators. But these traditional ventilators spurred the Israelis to design a low-cost alternative that could be executed worldwide.

"This isn't a substitute for a sophisticated ventilator," said Dr. Eitan Eliram, coalition coordinator. "It's potentially an effective stop-gap solution giving seriously ill coronavirus patients a fighting chance."

AmboVent includes parts that can be manufactured by 3D printers; from readily available medical equipment, such as manual ventilation bags; and windshield wiper motors.

"This project only began March 18, and it's already being tested by Hadassah Hospital," Dr. Eliram said.

The coding for the device is open source- the design and code have been uploaded to GitHub, a website serving as a wiki for programmers.

"We're permitting free access to this lifesaving medical device in an open-source code model." Dr. Eliram said. "We're trying to save lives —in Israel and around the world."

With more than 20,000 downloads, the design is being co-tested by partners in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Guatemala, and Canada.

For Dr. Eliram, Magen David Adom, and the others involved, their mantra comes from a Talmudic saying they're considering printing on the next prototype of the device:
"He who hath saved one life, it's as if he's saved an entire world."

SOURCE Infinity Concepts

CONTACT: Jen Lawlor, 412-400-0703, jen@infinityconcepts.net