IIT Bhubaneswar has developed a portable ventilator to fight against COVID- 19 in emergency pandemic situation

The School of Mechanical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar has developed a portable ventilator to fight against COVID- 19 in emergency pandemic situation. The device was conceived and manufactured (in house) by Dr. M. M. Mahapatra and team (Dr. J. G. Thakare, Mr. Arabinda Meher, Mr. Bivudatta Mohanty, Mr. Umesh Melkani). The team thanks to Prof. R. V. Raja Kumar, Director, IIT BBS for all the encouragements and support.

The total volume of the resuscitator is 1650 ml with a stroke volume of 800 ml. The pumping of the portable ventilator is carried out by using programmable stepper motor drive. The speed and stroke length of the stepper motor can be both controlled manually and programmable. The ventilator can operate at a maximum breathing frequency of 12-15 breaths per minute. The resuscitator is attached with a 2000 ml reservoir bag to reserve oxygen. The provision of oxygen supply can be made to the resuscitating unit by connecting an oxygen supply. The device operates smoothly without noise, compact and portable. The delivery volume can be varied to a maximum of 500 ml for smooth delivery of oxygen.