Add the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the list of groups that have re-focused their efforts to help combat the global coronavirus pandemic. The same organization that put men on the moon has now developed a prototype ventilator that passed simulated human testing last week at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, an epicenter of COVID-19 in the U.S.
According to NASA, the high-pressure ventilator, named VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), is composed of fewer parts than traditional ventilators. And since most of the parts used in the device are currently available through existing supply chains, VITAL can be manufactured more rapidly and maintained more easily than other solutions. Moreover, its design allows it to be modified for use in field hospitals and other non-traditional settings. However, VITAL is intended to only last three to four months and was specifically designed for COVID-19 patients.
NASA will be offering a free license for VITAL so that medical equipment manufacturers can start getting them into the hands of the medical facilities that most need them.
Here’s a video that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) released about the development of the new ventilator:
Press release from NASA: NASA Develops COVID-19 Prototype Ventilator in 37 Days