Aequs Group to supply free resuscitators to govt hospitals

Homegrown aerospace components maker Aequs Group, which operates India’s first aerospace SEZ in Belagavi, has come out with a plan to supply mechanical resuscitators to all government hospitals, ambulance services, and NGOs in Tier-2/3 cities totally free of cost (each machine costs Rs 8,500) to treat Covid-19 patients.

The product named ‘AQovent’ can be used as an oxygen-driven emergency ventilator that can provide constant-flow, pressure-cycled ventilation automatically to patients in respiratory distress.

The company has collaborated with the University of Illinois to develop and manufacture the product for the Indian market. These resuscitators will be manufactured at its SEZ. Aequs is only the second company globally to get a license from the university to manufacture this product after Flextronics of the US.

Developed by the in-house team of engineers, the product has undergone multiple rounds of pre-clinical and clinical trials, including endurance, performance, and product calibration testing.

“AQovent, one of Aequs’ timely innovations, operates without a power source and is hassle-free. To begin with we will manufacture 2,000 units and depending on the requirement, we can scale up our production to 10,000 units per month,” Aravind Melligeri, Chairman and CEO, Aequs told DH.

The company has tested the product on artificial lungs and humans in Belagavi hospitals.

Melligeri said AQovent operates directly of oxygen, making it ideal for deployment in non-electrified locations (also in an ambulance as it is portable) and in situations with limited medical facilities.