The COVID19 pandemic was initially characterized by a concern of severe ventilator shortages, even in developed regions. Affordable, robust, locally repairable ventilators were scarce even before the pandemic in low resource regions. Pufferfish is a full-fledged ICU ventilator supporting the continuum from noninvasive ventilation to full mechanical ventilation. Development focused on rapid and low-cost local manufacturability, clinical usability and utility in austere environments. It began as a response to COVID19 in a collaboration of the University of Utah, Stanford, and Brown University and has expanded since with groups and industrial partners from Nepal, Kenya, and India. The ventilator design is shared under open-source licenses empowering local groups to address their local needs on their own. An initial version focusing on noninvasive ventilation is currently undergoing testing and is being prepared for regulatory approval in Kenya, Nepal, and India. Our industrial partner in India is preparing manufacturing and local clinical assessment. The development of this ventilator has the potential to significantly improve options for critical care ventilation in austere and low resource regions.
REFERENCES:
Li H, Li E, Krishnamurthy D, Kolbay P, Chacin B, Hoehne S, Cybulski J, Brewer L, Petelenz T, Orr J, Sakata D, Clardy T, Kuck K, Prakash M. Utah-Stanford Ventilator (Vent4US): Developing a rapidly scalable ventilator for COVID-19 patients with ARDS. medRxiv. 2020:2020.04.18.20070367. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.18.20070367
See also: https://www.pez-globo.org/