NASA engineers have built a new high-pressure ventilator tailored to treat coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in just 37-days, and it passed a critical test Tuesday at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Officially called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), it’s currently seeking expedited FDA approval for the device via an emergency use authorization. Read more for a video and additional information.
VITAL is designed to be manufactured faster and maintained more easily than a traditional ventilator, thanks to its minimalist design with fewer parts, many of which are currently available to potential manufacturers through existing supply chains. This mean it can also can be modified for use in field hospitals being set up in convention centers, hotels, and other high-capacity facilities across the country and around the globe.
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We specialize in spacecraft, not medical-device manufacturing. But excellent engineering, rigorous testing and rapid prototyping are some of our specialties. When people at JPL realized they might have what it takes to support the medical community and the broader community, they felt it was their duty to share their ingenuity, expertise and drive,” said JPL Director Michael Watkins.
