On April 25, 2020 A team of engineering students from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar and Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST), Awantipora, Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) led by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay under the assistance of Design Innovation Centre (DIC), IUST has developed a low-cost ventilator named as Rudhaar using locally available materials.
Gist about Rudhaar
i.The cost of producing the prototype is around Rs 10,000 & the cost will be reduced when producing it in lump. It will be subject to medical testing for clearance and validation, after the approval will be taken for mass production.
ii.The main idea is to design and develop a low-cost alternative to the high-end ventilators used in hospitals costing in lakhs of rupees. It’s design is made using advanced software and will not be charged any royalty.
iii.It will provide necessary functions which will provide adequate breathing support necessary to save the life of a critically ill COVID-19 patient. It is produced to make it amenable for small scale industry production.
iv.It provides necessary control of basic parameters such as tidal volume, Breaths per Minute and Inspiratory: Expiratory Ratio and to also monitor pressure continuously during its operation.
v.The main difficulty faced by the team was the lack of resources, they tried many designs including a design developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
vi.The team head Zulqarnain, a first-year student of Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, from Kashmir initiated this idea & teamed up with his friends P. S Shoib, Asif Shah and Shakar Nehvi from IUST and Majid Koul from NIT Srinagar.
Importance of Ventilators
- According to the Ministry of Health, 80% of people who are infected will only experience mild illness, about 15% will require oxygen support, and the remaining 5% will require ventilators if they are acute or severe.
- They are an important component of the medical infrastructure as they are required to treat infected patients, provide critical breathing support to those falling critically ill.
Government’s measure
The government has adopted a two-pronged approach- one to increase domestic manufacturing capacity & other to search around the world for medical supplies.
About DIC
It is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
Chancellor of IUST– Girish Chandra Murmu (Governor of J&K)
Director of NIT Srinagar– Rakesh Sehgal
Director of IIT Bombay– Subhasis Chaudhuri.
