IIT-Hyderabad's low cost solution to country's glaring ventilator shortage

As India braces itself for stage-III, IIT Hyderabad has come up with a low-cost solution to provide ventilator support in the eventuality of millions infected by COVID-19.

IIT Hyderabad has at least one proposed design of such a device that costs just about Rs 5000 as against the modest hospital ventilators costing about Rs six lakh.

According to Prof BS Murty, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad and Prof V Eswaran of IIT-H’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, assuming even a low infection rate of six percent, around 80 million Indians would be affected in stage-III.

“Of these 80 million at least five percent would require ventilators, i.e., four million. Each of these four million patients would need a ventilator for around 21 days, thereby blocking that machine for at least that time,” the duo says.

A ventilator is a device pumping breathable air into the lungs of patients unable to breathe themselves. While sophisticated ventilators cost around Rs 40 lakh, modest foreign-made cost Rs 15 lakh, while Indian-made comes for Rs six lakh.

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Murty and Eswaran say that there are only around 40,000 ventilators in India right now, mostly in private hospitals. “Even at peak production, the Indian industry can manufacture only 60,000 machines in the next 10 months, costing Rs 3600 crore. Even then, total ventilators available would barely be one lakh - when millions of machines may be needed.”

Explaining thus that India cannot hinge on conventional ventilators, the two professors are advocating a crisis solution – inexpensive, easy to produce, portable and single-use devices for breathing support.

“The most common is the bag valve mask, known by proprietary name Ambu Bag, used for resuscitation in emergency situations. Since these devices are hand-powered, unsuitable for continuous use, we can easily design a similar device powered by sources like car battery. It could be made portable for use in areas without a power supply.”

Murty and Eswaran estimate the unit manufacturing cost as less than Rs 5000 - “One-hundredth the cost of a regular ventilator. Manufacturing six million such devices probably will cost less than that of the inadequate 60,000 conventional machines.”

The idea is not new. The duo informs that several countries are considering the manufacture of low-cost ventilators, inviting non-patent designs. Several 3-D printing designs are available for small scale production. Some designs are proposed within India, with IIT Hyderabad having at least one proposed design.

While all this sounds reassuring, the two professors mention the caveat. “These designs are untested, uncertified. They should run continuously and faultlessly 24x7 for at least one month – demanding a very high performance of design and components.”

While 3-D printing is one solution, the industrial manufacturing of millions of devices is the most rapid and cost-effective way. The IITH professors want the government through organizations like DST, DRDO to constitute an empowered task force towards starting production of these low-cost ventilators within two months.

Murty and Eswaran conclude – “In the happy circumstance of millions of devices so manufactured not needed, with the virus contained in stage-2; India could then give them to other nations who may not be so fortunate.”