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IISc-developed ventilator as good as imported variant but costs just one-tenth

Several additional units have been supplied to Manipal Hospitals (Old Airport Road)
Last Updated 03 September 2021, 21:10 IST

In spite of India’s big push to indigenise ventilator technology following the emergence of the novel coronavirus last year, many hospitals are still using high-priced imported models, experts said. An advanced indigenously-developed ventilator now entering the market could change all that.

Developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ventilator was supposed to have been ready by the time of the second wave, only to be delayed by a lack of funding.

However, with recent grants and orders, some 48 ventilators are being manufactured, said Sushobhan Avasthi, assistant professor at the IISc’s Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), where the ventilator was developed.

Several additional units have been supplied to Manipal Hospitals (Old Airport Road) and the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research for clinical trials with the intention of obtaining certification from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).

An ICU care expert at Manipal Hospitals (Old Airport Road) explained that indigenous machines have made little dent in the domestic market because of ineffective software.

“The efficiency of hardware only goes up to a certain point after which the software component takes over, managing valve flow and other operations,” explained Dr Justin Gopaldas, a critical care consultant at Manipal Hospitals.

“Consequently, most ventilator units being used in hospitals continue to be international machines such as those made by General Electric because these are extremely high-end units with about 25 years of development behind them.”

He added that Manipal Hospitals had been provided two IISc ventilators for clinical trials. He described the units as being nearly on a par with imported ventilators due to their advanced software.

According to Anoop Varghese, COO, Vasmed Health Sciences Pvt Ltd, which is the IISc’s industrial partner for the project, 15 out of the 50 orders are from the US computer firm, Western Digital. Another 10 will be sponsored by Vasmed, and 23 will be funded with a grant under the Millenium Alliance and from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

While the IISc researchers initially believed they could create a ventilator for Rs 50,000, Dr Avasthi said that estimation was, in retrospect, naive. Varghese added that the final unit price could be between Rs 1.6 and Rs 2 lakh, depending on order particulars. In comparison, an imported unit costs between Rs 16 and 25 lakh.

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(Published 03 September 2021, 20:49 IST)

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