A team at MIT has developed a prototype ventilator in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The device is based around a manual ventilator, known as an ambu bag, which the prototype automates with a combination of a gearmotor, motor controller, and microcontroller. The device is the next generation of a design developed in MIT’s Medical Device Design (2.75) course.
The motor controller used in this version of the ventilator design is a RoboClaw Solo, from BasicMicro’s line of single channel motor controllers. It provides the position and speed control needed to manage the ventilator’s parameters, such as volume and pressure. The Solo does this by reading the encoder pulses from the encoder integrated into the gearmotor that drives the ventilator.
The team behind the design is composed of engineers, physicians, computer scientists, and others whose combined experience produced a design that meets the same core requirements as a commercial ventilator, but at a lower cost and using off-the-shelf hardware. The team released its design guidance openly rather than pursuing FDA approval itself.
The ventilator design is open source, and the full details of the build can be found at the project’s website. The MIT team estimates that their ventilator can be built for a cost of around $500. However, it should be noted that the design is not intended as a DIY project: it is meant to be built by those experienced in medical devices and operated by trained clinicians.
The animation below shows the ventilator operating. RoboClaw is suitable for a wide range of motor control projects, and this ventilator is just one application. Please reference our extensive library of articles for detailed instructions on using the full range of RoboClaw’s features. USB drivers, code libraries, and example code can also be downloaded from our website. For instructions on configuring the RoboClaw Solo, see the RoboClaw Quick Start Guide.
