UNC biomedical engineers design an emergency ventilator

Biomedical engineers at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State respond to COVID-19 by teaming to speed the development of an emergency ventilator

emergency-ventilator-prototype-thomas-kierski
May 11, 2020
By Brock Pierce and Shellie Edge, Innovate Carolina

Biomedical engineering student Kathlyne Bautista always knew that her coursework and training would set her on a path to make a life-changing difference for people. But before the coronavirus pandemic, she didn’t realize just how soon that opportunity would arrive. 

Bautista is part of the Carolina Respiratory Emergency – Ventilator (CaRE-Vent) team led by Yueh Lee, MD, PhD, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research team is sprinting to design and prototype an open-source ventilator in a matter of weeks that has the potential to help fill a critical equipment gap caused by a projected spike in COVID-19 patients. The group is designing the ventilator so that it could be manufactured quickly and inexpensively – at less than $1,000 and with only six hours of skilled labor per unit.

And even in the best-case scenario – where the COVID-19 curve flattens to the point that the device is never needed for patients – the team’s efforts are advancing knowledge in the biomedical design community about the best way to create emergency ventilators in the future. 

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