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After successful trials at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), T-Works, a e-hardware startup incubator, is all set to manufacture 100 ‘affordable’ ventilators in the next two weeks.
Priced at ₹65,000-85,000 a piece, the T-Works Ventilator is ready for use on patients who need ventilation support. (Typically such equipment is priced at ₹5-6 lakh in the market).
With 2-3 per cent of the Covid-19 infected patients requiring oxygen support or ventilation support to cope with the severe lung infection caused by the virus, scarcity and the cost of ventilators have become a big hurdle as States scramble to find resources to attend to the patients.
T-Works, a Telangana Government-promoted incubator, which has teamed up with several startups and corporates, has developed the homegrown ventilator in 32 days. Work began days before the country declared the first lockdown in the March third week.
After piecing together equipment to produce an affordable ventilator, the incubator produced a prototype which has been put to use at the NIMS, a State-government run super specialty hospital.
T-Works Chief Executive Officer Sujai Karampuri said that the performance of the device was comparable to any other ventilator currently being used.
“The T-Works ventilator will be useful in peripheral centres like district and area hospitals. The additional provision to use the ventilator with an oxygen cylinder allows it to be used as a mobile ventilator in ambulances. It has a potential to save several lives,” Padmaja, Head of the Department (Anaesthesiology) at NIMS, said.
“Detailed feedback from doctors of NIMS during the design and development phase was vital,” Sujai said.
The T-Works ventilator measures parameters such as inspired and expired tidal volume, peak airway pressure and FiO2 (concentration of oxygen that a person inhales),” he said.
It comes with the option of using either at a high-pressure hospital line or a cylinder for oxygen supply. This facility allows the device to be used in locations with scarce resources and no central supply of medical gases.
“We will continue to develop the device’s software to add features and improve its performance significantly,” Sujai said.
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