The coronavirus health crisis is stimulating talent and, particularly, research and technological and scientific investment aimed at finding effective solutions through innovation to overcome this pandemic as soon as possible.
And Spanish hospitals, the protagonists of this battle, are the priority. This approach inspired The Open Ventilator project, an innovation initiative promoted by the association of young talent Celera and the Rey Juan Carlos University, supported by Red Eléctrica and a consortium of companies, to manufacture a new artificial ventilator for hospital use.
The Open Ventilator has been created in the search for a fast, low-cost, non-profit solution to provide Spanish hospitals with safe and sturdy ventilators to protect the health of severe coronavirus patients. It is a functional, approved engineering device that has been developed in just over three weeks. A team of young researchers, engineers and doctors have been working tirelessly since last March 23rd to design, implement, adjust and optimize the operation of this new equipment so that it can be used immediately and help hospital staff to save lives.
The ventilator already possesses all the health authorizations and soon the first 40 pieces of equipment will be distributed to various hospitals. It is a functional and robust device that complies with all safety and efficiency specifications, as well as incorporating a machine learning sensor that adds an artificial intelligence to the device so that it can learn and adjust to changing needs in real time.
For Red Eléctrica and its Corporate Director of Sustainability and External Relations, Fátima Rojas, "The Open Ventilator brings together all the values with which the company identifies itself: a commitment to innovation, the extraordinary value of our researchers and the alliance of economic, social and university forces with the common objective of helping those affected by Covid-19".
The next objective is to obtain the CE marking for the new ventilator, so that it can be mass produced to reach all Spanish hospitals and any other part of the world that may need it. In addition to the financial support of Red Eléctrica and the MAPFRE Foundation, as well as many citizens who wanted to make their personal contribution, other companies such as OMRON, Fabrez, Igus España or Finsa have provided all their know-how in health technology for the deployment of the new ventilator.
