Mexican experts stepped up and designed a multi-patient ventilator that can tend to six patients at the same time amidst the global health pandemic.


The Need of Ventilators Amid COVID-19 

Ventilators are in a very high demand today as the world continues to battle COVID-19. Many countries are competing to get the available ventilators for their hospitals and patients. With the present COVID-19 cases of more than 2 million, it is not a surprise why many countries scramble for medical supplies.

Ventilators are very important for COVID-19 patients who have difficulties in breathing. These help them to relax their respiratory system and increase their levels of oxygen. Patients who have severe cases of the virus need a ventilator because their oxygen level drops due to the damage to the lungs caused by the infectious and deadly virus.

According to GlobalData, there is a current need for more than 880,000 ventilators globally due to COVID-19. The United States alone needs 75,000 ventilators, while five countries in Europe are short of 74,000 ventilators. 


Mexican Experts Designed a Multi-Patient Ventilator to Fill the Gap

There is a high demand for ventilators around the globe. Private and government-owned hospitals that are accredited to accept COVID-19 patients are now in need of medical supplies such as this.

This led the Mexican experts, who are comprised of the multidisciplinary group from Hermosillo Technological Center and the State University of Sonora, to develop and design a multi-patient ventilator--a ventilator that can tend to six patients at the same time. They called it as Automatic Machine for Artificial Breathing or MARA. 

The prototype of the machine was developed by the head of Hermosillo Technological Center, Pedro Mar Hernandez, in collaboration by Pedro Ortega Romero from the State University of Sonora. The Marbar Tech Solution supported them.

Doctors and industrial equipment suppliers such as Festo, AIISA Solutions Partner Siemens, Steren, and GMAR Safety Training supported them as well.

In an interview with Hernandez, he said that the machine was intentionally designed and developed due to the global need for ventilators because of COVID-19, which cause the patients to experience respiratory failure. Additionally, the multi-patient ventilator prototype was approved by 20 medical experts.

 


The State University of Sonora will be the one to make the designs and programs to make this available to the society and for its universal use so that it can be built by any university in the country.

One of the best features of this machine is that each unit for every patient several parameters and that includes oxygen volume, FiO2 Oxygen flow, breathing rate, pressing force, and including virus, bacteria, and fungus filtering could be adjusted accordingly.

At present, three institutions are working with Sonora in the development of the multi-patient ventilator. They are also inviting other institutions who are willing to produce MARA. 

MARA promotes the reduction of the risk of infection for healthcare workers. Once the health emergency is controlled, the machine can be used for educational purposes.


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