Helping Africa to breathe when COVID-19 strikes

Fenton, Paul M.

doi:10.5588/ijtld.20.0208

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Another recent and inexpensive (∼10 USD) "minimalist" prototype ventilator by Chi et al is 3D printed, and it relies on pressurized gas either from an air tank or hospital wall supply to accomplish ventilation (Albert et al, 2020). While inexpensive, reliance on pressurized gas may also be impractical during emergency surge crises, especially in LMICs when pressurized gas may not be readily accessible or sufficiently pressurized (Fenton, 2020;Madzimbamuto, 2020). Other prototype ventilators use low-cost electric fans or blowers to produce pressure-controlled ventilation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Construction and Performance Testing of a Fast-Assembly COVID-19 (FALCON) Emergency Ventilator in a Model of Normal and Low-Pulmonary Compliance Conditions

et al. 2021

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an immense, unmet and international need for available ventilators. Both clinical and engineering groups around the globe have responded through the development of “homemade” or do-it-yourself (DIY) ventilators. Several designs have been prototyped, tested, and shared over the internet. However, many open source DIY ventilators require extensive familiarity with microcontroller programming and electronics assembly, which many healthcare providers may lack. In light of this, we designed and bench tested a low-cost, pressure-controlled mechanical ventilator that is “plug and play” by design, where no end-user microcontroller programming is required. This Fast-AssembLy COVID-Nineteen (FALCON) emergency prototype ventilator can be rapidly assembled and could be readily modified and improved upon to potentially provide a ventilatory option when no other is present, especially in low- and middle-income countries.HypothesisWe anticipated that a minimal component prototype ventilator could be easily assembled that could reproduce pressure/flow waveforms and tidal volumes similar to a hospital grade ventilator (Engström CarestationTM).Materials and MethodsWe benched-tested our prototype ventilator using an artificial test lung under 36 test conditions with varying respiratory rates, peak inspiratory pressures (PIP), positive end expiratory pressures (PEEP), and artificial lung compliances. Pressure and flow waveforms were recorded, and tidal volumes calculated with prototype ventilator performance compared to a hospital-grade ventilator (Engström CarestationTM) under identical test conditions.ResultsPressure and flow waveforms produced by the prototype ventilator were highly similar to the CarestationTM. The ventilator generated consistent PIP/PEEP, with tidal volume ranges similar to the CarestationTM. The FALCON prototype was tested continuously for a 5-day period without failure or significant changes in delivered PIP/PEEP.ConclusionThe FALCON prototype ventilator is an inexpensive and easily-assembled “plug and play” emergency ventilator design. The FALCON ventilator is currently a non-certified prototype that, following further appropriate validation and testing, might eventually be used as a life-saving emergency device in extraordinary circumstances when more sophisticated forms of ventilation are unavailable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…India, a middle-income country, was estimated to have less than 5 ventilators per 100,000 (Soutik, 2020). Furthermore, conventional ventilators that require pressurized gasses to operate cannot be reliably used where access to dependable pressurized gas is unavailable (Fenton, 2020;Madzimbamuto, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction and Performance Testing of a Fast-Assembly COVID-19 (FALCON) Emergency Ventilator in a Model of Normal and Low-Pulmonary Compliance Conditions

et al. 2021

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“…Lessons learned from the HIV pandemic to combat the spread and mitigate the response were shared (Hargreaves et al 2020). Concerns were raised regarding availability of oxygen supply (Fenton 2020;Stein et al 2020), critical care beds and well-trained staff (Ohia, Bakarey, and Ahmad 2020;Sonenthal et al 2020) as well as laboratory testing capacity in the region, which were lacking pre-pandemic (Oladimeji, Atiba, and Adeyinka 2020). Barriers to the public's adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures were cited in some African countries, including religious and cultural beliefs and practices in Sudan (Hezima et al 2020) and South Africa (Jaja, Anyanwu, and Jaja 2020), poor health-seeking behaviour in Ethiopia (Shigute et al 2020), and general distrust of the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Whembolua and Tshiswaka 2020).…”

Section: The Impact Of Covid-19 In Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 measures on children with disabilities and their families in Uganda

Bannink

Naluyga

Kawesa

et al. 2021

Disability & Society

102

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“…This delay has given countries critical time to prepare and strengthen their often limited health infrastructure and diagnostic and surveillance capacity [21]. For example, there are only 0.23 ventilators per 100,000 of population in Uganda, compared with nine in Australia and eleven in Europe [8,22]. Despite the delay, models predict that any natural protection offered by a younger population is likely to be offset by weaker health systems, overcrowding and comorbidities [23]; hence LMICs have been advised to prepare for a ''slow burn" COVID-19 epidemic.…”

Section: Low-and Middle-income Countries (Lmics)mentioning

confidence: 99%