Design and prototyping of a low-cost portable mechanical ventilator

This paper describes the design and prototyping of a low-cost portable mechanical ventilator for use in mass casualty cases and resource-poor environments. The ventilator delivers breaths by compressing a conventional bag-valve mask (BVM) with a pivoting cam arm, eliminating the need for a human operator for the BVM. An initial prototype was built out of acrylic, measuring 11.25 x 6.7 x 8 inches (285 x 170 x 200 mm) and weighing 9 lbs (4.1 kg). It is driven by a stepper motor powered by a 14.8 VDC battery and features an adjustable tidal volume of up to 900 mL, adjustable breaths per minute (bpm) of 5-30, and inhalation to exhalation time ratio (i:e ratio) options of 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. Tidal volume, breaths per minute and i:e ratio are set via user-friendly knobs, and the settings are displayed on an LCD screen. The prototype also features an assist-control mode and an alarm to indicate over-pressurization of the system. Future iterations of the device will be fully calibrated to medical standards and include all desired ventilator features. Future iterations will be further optimised for low power-consumption and will be designed for manufacture and assembly. With a prototyping cost of only $420, the bulk-manufacturing price for the ventilator is estimated to be less than $100. Through this prototype, the strategy of cam-actuated BVM compression is proven to be a viable option to achieve low-cost, low-power portable ventilator technology that provides essential ventilator features at a fraction of the cost of existing technology. Keywords: Ventilator, Bag Valve Mask (BVM), Low-Cost, Low-Power, Portable and Automatic.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Powelson, Stephen K. (Stephen Kirby)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexander H. Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59954

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/59954