06 October, 2021
From the Apple computer to the Dyson vacuum to Disney cartoons, novel inventions are sometimes made, not in the lab or workplace, but the garage. Such was the case for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) researchers Dr. Adnan Qamar and Ahad Syed, whose backpack ventilator, VENTIBAG, was developed in Qamar's garage at the height of the pandemic in 2020. With the University labs in hibernation mode at that time, they shifted operations to the home in order to work on a novel ventilator design while adhering to safety measures and social distancing.
The mobile respiratory unit is designed to support patients suffering from lung conditions. It works by extracting and delivering pure oxygen from the atmosphere at levels customized to individuals' needs. It differs from other ventilators in that it is scaled to be portable, and uses real-time Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and sensors to monitor physiological conditions and adjust support. Vital data are uploaded to the Cloud with live feeds to physicians who have access to perform real-time adjustments or provide feedback without actually being with the patient.
Read the full story on KAUST News.