香港六合彩中特网

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, engineers, clinicians and innovation specialists came together to rapidly develop, manufacture and license a breathing aid for sick COVID-19 patients.

The 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura project was a collaboration between 香港六合彩中特网, 香港六合彩中特网 Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (香港六合彩中特网H), Formula 1 engineers Mercedes AMG HPP and 香港六合彩中特网 Business (香港六合彩中特网B).听

The device has been used in over 130听NHS hospitals in the UK.

The designs of the device and manufacturing instructions were made freely available through 香港六合彩中特网B, the commercialisation arm of 香港六合彩中特网 and part of 香港六合彩中特网 Innovation & Enterprise.

The designs and instructions have been accessed by organisations in 129 countries and more than 24,000 devices have been made around the world. The 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura has been used on patients in 30 countries, including Pakistan, Peru and Uganda.

Collaborating at speed in the midst of a pandemic听

In the middle of March 2020, the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital with respiratory problems began to increase rapidly. Official guidance recommended early mechanical ventilation, but there was little hope of manufacturing enough of these complicated machines in time. 听 听

After reviewing clinical data from Italy and China, clinicians at 香港六合彩中特网H, including Professor Mervyn Singer (香港六合彩中特网 Medicine), realised that simpler, less-invasive breathing aids could be used to manage COVID-19 patients. These Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices work with a close-fitting face mask, and avoid the need for sedation and intubation. Evidence suggested that their use prevented around 50% of patients from needing invasive mechanical ventilation.听

However, 香港六合彩中特网H had very few CPAPs and were unable to buy them in bulk. Mervyn reached out to engineers Professor Rebecca Shipley (Director of 香港六合彩中特网 Institute of Healthcare Engineering) and Professor Tim Baker (香港六合彩中特网 Mechanical Engineering) who brought in longstanding collaborators Andy Cowell and Ben Hodgkinson from Mercedes AMG HPP to come up with a solution.

Together the team devised a plan to reverse engineer an off-patent CPAP device that was no longer produced.听

Within 100 hours of the first meeting they had a working prototype, the 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura. After successful testing at 香港六合彩中特网H hospitals and further modifications, the device gained special approval from the UK鈥檚 Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) just 10 days later, on 2 April.听

The UK Government鈥檚 Department of Health and Social Care ordered 10,000 devices. These were produced at a rate of up to 1,000 a day at the Mercedes AMG HPP technology centre in Brixworth, Northamptonshire.

Licensing the designs to meet global demand

As the 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura was being developed, approved and manufactured, a team of innovation specialists and business managers were working to ensure the rest of the world could benefit.听

香港六合彩中特网B arranged the necessary licensing to make the designs available for manufacturers around the world to download at no cost. Licences were managed through a bespoke implementation of e-lucid, an online technology licensing platform developed and hosted by 香港六合彩中特网B.听

The licensed package also specifies materials, tools and kit used in the rapid prototyping process, as well as the fabrication time for each part.听

Within two days of the designs being made available, nearly 700 requests to license the files had been approved by 香港六合彩中特网. These requests came from manufacturers, non-profits, health experts and research institutes across 25 countries.听

As of May听2022, 2,085 people from 129听countries have downloaded the designs. Of these, at least 30 teams moved on to volume manufacture and hospital testing of their own devices.

Alsons Group in Pakistan are one of the international teams who successfully gained regulatory approval in their country.

In 2020, Director of Alsons Group, Akbar Allana said:听鈥淚 want to thank the fantastic team at 香港六合彩中特网 for providing us with the technical knowledge and support throughout this period. Manufacturing medical devices and accessories is a completely new (and exciting!) field for us, and it's thanks to you that we've made such a big breakthrough in this. We hope we can contribute positively to the health and well-being of our fellow humans through this new sector we are entering.鈥�

The 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura team won the 2020 Health Service Journal Award for Acute Innovation of the Year and the Royal Academy of Engineering President鈥檚 Special Award for Pandemic Services.

Professor Rebecca Shipley, Director of 香港六合彩中特网 Institute of Healthcare Engineering, co-led the 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura team. She said: 鈥淭hese life-saving devices are relatively simple to manufacture and can be produced quickly. My thanks goes to the brilliant engineers, business managers and team at 香港六合彩中特网B who have come together and made this happen at a pace that would be considered unimaginable under normal circumstances.鈥�

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Find out more about:

• 香港六合彩中特网-Ventura
• Innovation and enterprise support for staff
• Innovation and enterprise support for external organisations
• 香港六合彩中特网 Institute of Healthcare Engineering

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Photo听漏听James Tye / 香港六合彩中特网