CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cleveland collaboration has resulted in what could be a game-changer for hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients that don't have enough ventilators.
“When people come together and want to do something it’s amazing what can get done,” says the President and Chairman of Second Breath, Dan T. Moore.
It’s a newly formed portfolio under Dan T. Moore Company, which according to its website, was founded in Cleveland with the ‘guiding principle of finding and solving unmet industrial needs.’
Moore along with MedWorks and University Hospitals developed a ventilator that can be made quickly to meet the needs of hospitals at a relatively inexpensive cost. The Cleveland Foundation funded the first round of production.
According to Moore the device is $6,000 and doesn't have all the features of a full scale machine.The full scale units could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $125 thousand, he says.
A team of eight automotive engineers worked on the concept.
“In one week, they went through seven renditions, picked the best one at the end of the week, debugged it for a week and then took a week to get [emergency FDA] approval,” explains Moore.
University Hospitals Anesthesiologist and Critical Care Intensivist, Dr. Mada Helou handled the specifications for the device.
“It’s a simple design that can be used by a well trained clinician and it can be produced large scale for a very low cost,” she says.
The hope is that this will be used around the world to help fight COVID-19 and beyond.
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