Access to ventilators for critically ill COVID-19 patients is often a matter of life or death. Governments worldwide have appealed to the non-medical engineering industry to retool and start manufacturing this vital equipment in large quantities.
“We want anybody who has the manufacturing capability to turn to the manufacture of ventilators,” said Matt Hancock, UK health secretary.
So, some of the biggest companies around the world are stepping in to fill the void.
First, we saw car manufacturers joining the race (pun intended).
Then, these were followed by a couple of surprising names swooping in (another pun, yes). Dyson and Gtech. The guys that make vacuum cleaners.
It makes sense. These companies can leverage their experience building vacuum machines and other motor-driven airflow gadgets to create new designs and get them validated and produced – fast.
How fast? Try 10 days fast.
Dyson, best known for its cordless vacuums, put aside every project and designed a ventilator to help treat coronavirus patients in a mere week and a half.
Although British PM, Boris Johnson, called all tech companies and manufactures for help, this is an uplifting example of a company using its expertise and proprietary technology to literally save lives.
The company added that they would donate 5,000 units to the international effort to tackle the pandemic.
“A ventilator supports a patient who is no longer able to maintain their own airways, but sadly there is currently a significant shortage, both in the U.K. and other countries around the world,” James Dyson wrote employees in an internal letter.
“This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently, and at volume,” he added. “The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time. The race is now on to get it into production.”
Yes Cars Go
Additionally, Ford and GE Healthcare licensed a ventilator design from Airon Corp to treat patients with COVID-19. Ford said it expects to “produce 1,500 Airon ventilators by the end of April, another 12,00 by the end of May, and 50,000 by July” under this partnership.
Adrian Price, director of Ford’s global manufacturing core engineering division, believes the unpowered ventilator design is “absolutely robust in terms of its capability.” Also adding that “it’s a simple design that can be quickly scaled up.”
Starting in April, we’re producing a ventilator with @GEHealthcare, leveraging the design of @AironCorp’s FDA-cleared ventilator. It's designed to operate on air pressure without electricity, making it a versatile solution to help those fighting #COVID19. #BuiltFordProud pic.twitter.com/DtsB0fPGe0
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) March 30, 2020
NYC mayor called on Elon Musk to have his companies Tesla and SpaceX manufacture ventilators for COVID-19 patients. And of course, the “real-life Iron Man” was ready to step up to this incredible challenge.
We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2020
Will These Ventilators Be Safe Enough?
The lack of medical knowledge and expertise at these high-tech companies is vital in ventilator making.
“These are very, very different environments,” Nick Oliver, Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School said.
“I think the idea that manufacturers, even very skilled manufacturers, who are not well versed in the art of producing medical devices can suddenly turn on production of such devices is a little optimistic, to say the least,” he concluded.
So let’s be optimistic.