April 27, 2020
Source: Montreal General Hospital Foundation. In March, given the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis, the Code Life Ventilator Challenge was created, a two-week sprint among the engineering and scientific communities to gather the best ideas from around the world to design emergency ventilators.
The prototypes submitted had to meet a series of technical criteria in addition to being inexpensive, simple, easy to use and locally built. Their functionality also had to be easy to test.
Out of the hundreds of submissions received, nine concepts were selected for an intensive round of testing. The semi-finalist teams are:
- YGK Modular Ventilator
- Haply
- IFRP Brazil
- BreathHere
- Breeze
- Fanshawe-Toyota-RT
- MonVent
- Lung Carburetor
- FlowO2
The testing phase is a crucial step that is taking a little longer than expected.
According to the schedule originally released, the three finalist groups were to be announced on April 15. However, in order to complete all the necessary tests and ensure the safety of patients who will benefit from the devices, the announcement of the finalists will be postponed by a few days.
While the situation is urgent, the proposed solution should not be taken lightly. Here is a brief explanation from Reza Farivar, organizer of the Code Life Ventilator Challenge, and Chia-Lei Lily Guan, Inhalotherapist. Video by Great Things Studios.