AmbuBox: A Fast-Deployable Low-Cost Ventilator for COVID-19 Emergent Care. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fang, Zecong; Li, Andrew I.; Wang, Hongcheng; Zhang, Ruoyu; Mai, Xiyan; Pan, Tingrui
• Is Part Of: SLAS technology. Volume 25:Number 6(2020)
• Page Start: 573
• Page End: 584
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: ventilator -- AmbuBag -- bag valve mask -- pneumatic -- COVID-19; Medical laboratory technology -- Periodicals; Laboratories -- Equipment and supplies -- Periodicals; Diagnosis, Laboratory -- Periodicals; 616.075
• DOI: 10.1177/2472630320953801
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2472-6303

Abstract

We present a low-cost clinically viable ventilator design, AmbuBox, using a controllable pneumatic enclosure and standard manual resuscitators that are readily available (AmbuBag), which can be rapidly deployed during pandemic and mass-casualty events with a minimal set of components to manufacture and assemble. The AmbuBox is designed to address the existing challenges presented in the existing low-cost ventilator designs by offering an easy-to-install and simple-to-operate apparatus while maintaining a long lifespan with high-precision flow control. As an outcome, a mass-producible prototype of the AmbuBox has been devised, characterized, and validated in a bench test setup using a lung simulator. This prototype will be further investigated through clinical testing. Given the potentially urgent need for inexpensive and rapidly deployable ventilators globally, the overall design, operational principle, and device characterization of the AmbuBox system have been described in detail with open access online. Moreover, the fabrication and assembly methods have been incorporated to enable short-term producibility by a generic local manufacturing facility. In addition, a full list of all components used in the AmbuBox has been included to reflect its low-cost nature.