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Open source ventilator? Time for us to make it happen.

Okay, sure. Do you have a clean room? Do you have a team of doctors to run it? Do you know how long it'll take to get approval for a vent? Do you have a whole supply chain set up?

Could this be done? Absolutely. Could it be done in time to make any damn difference? I doubt it.

They're not particularly complicated machines. But if it has any errors, somebody dies. That takes careful design. It takes testing. It takes review.

Seriously. For each electrical component, if you tell the manufacturer you're making a vent, the coronavirus outbreak will be over before you're done with the design review meetings to even get them to sell you a commodity IC.

Or, the companies that already make them and own the molds, tooling, software and the approvals could just crank up production and find a few more subs.
 
Plenty of ventilators on eBay last I looked ($4000 and up) but entire books are written on the subject of using them safely, so I suspect moot point for DIY without training.
 
I manage ventilators on a regular basis at work. It’s not even close to a do it yourself kind of thing.

Self isolate. Do not go near vulnerable people for the next three (at least) months. Take care of your loved ones.

Lucky (I hope) 7
 
Please remove.


don't give up so easily, part of brainstorming as all kinds questions etc. No one every accomplished great by folding in the face of adversity

I manage ventilators on a regular basis at work. It’s not even close to a do it yourself kind of thing.

I didn't assume its DIY in application. Why not a bare bones basic model design by someone who knows what it needs to be and 1000's of shops making parts. Maybe with your experience you can help with that? then they're assembled and tested by medical people and used in hospitals. Open source, professionally made components....end of the day, everything is made up of a bunch of parts.

The key is the means of production are accessibly via the net and are ready to put their shoulder behind it. What's missing is the simplified open source design. Lets face it, medical equipment sales are huge margin businesses so manufactures make them as complicated and feature rich as they possibly can.....that's the million dollar deckel. What this needs is 1948 atlas mill, that will get the job done (life vs death) and that 1000 shops can start making parts for.

Yeah the regulation framework is an issue....but there ways around that might in weeks as it becomes life and death. That shouldn't stop a good idea and imo wont when things are desperate
 
Please remove.

How's all the high quality "free" healthcare working out for you ?

Your to the point of DIY medical care up there ?

So what's Truedope doing these days ?

Still on his private island in the Bahamas ?
 
To keep the medical system in both US and Canada from loosing the people that run it, the thing we need most is N95 masks. This is even more important than vents.

L7
 
How's all the high quality "free" healthcare working out for you ?

Your to the point of DIY medical care up there ?

So what's Truedope doing these days ?

Still on his private island in the Bahamas ?

The taxes-paid-for health care is working out OK.

Some people are more in a panic than others. Seems to be inversely proportional to IQ scores.

Truedope is hiding in his closet with a bong.

We should be so lucky as to have him locked away on an island somewhere. Anywhere.

I'll sign the donor card if someone wants to part him out. Lungs are full of bong water. Brain hardly used, maybe non-functional. And I wouldn't wish the face transplanted on anyone. Kidneys should be salvageable. No one will recognize the hair once it's in plug-rows somewhere else...
 
I just got off the horn with my local MP

The emergency measures act (not going to be popular), is expected shortly.

Under that act, there will be a lot of leeway as to what we can do.

My MP is looking into what protections from private enterprise can be afforded, and how this thing can be fast tracked.

Need a better design than what I have (essentially a CPAP with O2 injection).

Anyone willing to help, please PM me.
 
And.....Call me cynical but is it possible that supplying ventilators is not a problem and some lobbyist for a company, or companies is working the system to get a nice fat no bid-open end purchase order?

Again, I know it's not good to thing this way in an emergency but there are plenty of examples of this sort of conduct.
 
I just got off the horn with my local MP

The emergency measures act (not going to be popular), is expected shortly.

Under that act, there will be a lot of leeway as to what we can do.

My MP is looking into what protections from private enterprise can be afforded, and how this thing can be fast tracked.

Need a better design than what I have (essentially a CPAP with O2 injection).

Anyone willing to help, please PM me.

Cpap w/O2 does not a ventilator make. It's still cpap. More to the point, these home units, as well as the transport units like the LTVs, are not acute care machines (including the one from that Washington state outfit). Note they all use a single limb circuit with an external exhalation valve. Acute care machines typically use a dual limb circuit and actually contain two independent vent systems. The backup vent is switched in if the primary fails. Home care units lack the backup vent.

There are a multitude of home cpap and bipap machines that can be pressed into service with nothing more than a bleed-in tee to introduce the O2, and will help to substantially reduce the demand for true vents.

Keep pursuing your idea, it sounds like you plan on a pressure limited, time cycled mode. I remember working with a transport vent that was gas powered and utilized fluidics to handle cycling- you might find out the particulars and adapt them to what you're doing.


Standardparts makes a good point. Doesn't that war production order negate it?
 
And, considering the auto reliability humor this will invite.....

There is this: "Wednesday afternoon, GM CEO Mary Barra offered to use empty factory space in a “WWII-style mobilization” to make ventilators for hospitals that are running short. That idea made its way to Tesla CEO Elon Musk tonight, who stated that Tesla “will make ventilators if there is a shortage.” When prodded further, he elaborated"

Should be some action in it for the UAW....."GM, Tesla, Ford offer to make ventilators to soothe coronavirus shortages"

GM, Tesla, Ford offer to make ventilators to soothe coronavirus shortages - Electrek
 
Ok, I have some good news!

I cant really say too much, aside from I have been in contact with John.
The project is being handled by very appropriate people.

Both John and I are very happy with the direction this is going, and the assistance being provided.

Look for a formal announcement in the next few days!
 
Ship them to Italy ... NOW. By air.

Friend's Italy boss ? Mom just died too. Both parents.

Ship them from China. If there truly IS a ventilator shortage in the U.S. we'll need all we have. However I strongly suspect the "shortage" is in relation to alarmist projections based on computer models. Anyone remember the U.S. projections for AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola and on down the list? We're all dead now, at least according to the computer.
 








 
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