IIT Roorkee's 'Prana-Vayu', a closed-loop ventilator can be useful for COVID-19 patients. Here's why

The Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee(IIT-R) has recently hit headlines after a team of researchers at the institute developed a low cost portable ventilator that might prove useful for the survival of COVID-19 patients.

The closed-loop ventilator does not require compressed air and is useful when wards are converted to ICUs.

'Prana-Vayu,' the closed-loop ventilator is developed in collaboration with AIIMS, Rishikesh, and is equipped with state-of-the-art features.

The ventilator is based on the controlled operation of the prime mover to deliver the required amount of air to the patient.

The manufacturing cost per ventilator is estimated to be Rs 25,000. Some of the features of the ventilator are remote monitoring by health professionals, touch screen control of all operating parameters, moister, and temperature control for inhaled air, IIT-R said in a statement.

The automated process controls the pressure and flow rates in the inhalation and exhalation lines. Besides, the ventilator has feedback that can control tidal volume and breathe per minute.

The ventilator will be useful for a wide degree of congestions in the respiratory tract and is applicable for all age group patients, especially the elderly. The prototype has been tested successfully for normal and patient-specific breathing conditions, added the statement.

"Prana-Vayu has been designed especially for COVID-19 pandemic. It is low-cost, safe, reliable, and can be quickly manufactured. We have successfully achieved the ventilatory requirement on a test lung, and it can be used for both infants and even overweight adults," said Akshay Dvivedi, Coordinator, Tinkering Laboratory, IIT Roorkee.