Hyderabad-based start-up develops low-cost portable medical ventilator

Hyderabad: To tackle with the current pandemic situation various start-up companies with help of several modern technologies has come up with various devices to help the citizens. Same goes with a city-based start-up 'Skill Shark Edu Tech' which developed a low cost portable medical ventilator to help patients, healthcare professionals both in city and in rural areas.

Speaking to The Hans India, Ashhar Ahmed, director, Skill Shark Edu Tech, said "Coronavirus pandemic has drastically shifted everyday lives already, with millions changing the way they work and socialize. Covid-19 is fueling the wave of innovations in India and the covid-19 pandemic has catalyzed the evolution of many technologies in India. Encumbered by an extended lockdown, people are seeking new solutions in various sectors be it in food delivery, medical consultation or education. We thought to give our small contribution in area where significant need is required, so we have developed a medical ventilator with help of the engineering students of Sridevi Women's Engineering College.''

The model that the start-up is building is a positive-pressure medical ventilator system. Positive-pressure ventilators work by increasing the patient's airway pressure through an endotracheal or tracheostomy tube. The positive pressure allows air to flow into the airway until the ventilator breath is terminated. Then, the airway pressure drops to zero, and the elastic recoil of the chest wall and lungs push the tidal volume — the breath-out through passive exhalation.

Designed and simulated the medical ventilator in Matrix Laboratory which is a software We are planning to prototype this design in the coming month. We have explored several ventilator designs/products available in India and abroad. Also, we are in talks with different doctors and health centers in Hyderabad to take this forward. In the market depending on features ventilators are available from Rs 2.5 lakhs to more than Rs 5 lakhs. Looking at providing an effective, low-cost, precise ventilator for rural areas, we intend to have our ventilator's final cost would be below Rs 1 lakh and final cost is yet to be decided adds Ashhar.