COVID-19 Ventilator Open Source Project

UPDATE:

We have raised the first $25,000 that was required to move forward!  Now we need additional funds to help with pushing our product to present to the FDA.  We have an amazing team of people behind us including lawyers and a local regulatory firm.  There have been enormous strides made to help us get to our goal!  We need your contributions to help get us to the finish line!!!


The Problem:


Due to the COVID-19 virus, in the coming months, projections suggest the US could have a shortfall of over 800,000 ventilators. The US is likely to need over 1 million ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients but only has around 160,000 ventilators nationwide. Currently, US manufacturers produce just 14,000 ventilators per year and some ventilator manufacturers are ramping up production by 40%, so in a year they can produce 20,000 ventilators.  There is simply no way for current manufacturers to even put a small dent in the number of ventilators required.


The Backstory:


COVID-19 Ventilators, Inc. was formed to tackle this challenge.  The design team has created and is building a prototype of an Emergency Ventilator, the brainchild of CEO, Tarik Yousef.  Yousef is a Columbus, Ohio resident - an engineer by training and a small business owner, manufacturing fine furniture. Motivated by the data and the pandemic risks we’re currently facing, he pulled a team of medical, engineering, and software experts together to design a system that can be both manufactured to support Ohio’s critical hospital capacity challenges and shared for others to modify and source for their own local needs. 


In less than two weeks, the team worked to create a system that mimics traditional ventilators, but at a much lower cost.   Once the initial design was complete, Yousef connected with co-founders Liz Stump and Amanat Ahmad to set up COVID-19 Ventilators, Inc. to rapidly build a partner network to secure manufacturing and production materials, processes, and facility space for the various components. The organization is currently pending approval for 501(c)(3) status.


The Solution:


The Emergency Ventilator has comparable functionality to more sophisticated models, with high precision sensors to ensure patient safety and provide real time data and a computer learning algorithm that detects changes and adjusts in real time.  Partnering with medical professionals, Yousef has developed a product that he says is, “one of the only emergency ventilators being developed with a proper control interface, allowing medical professionals full access to volume, pressure settings, and data monitoring, similar to traditional ventilators.”


The Need:


This project is moving extremely quickly - the design process started on March 16, 2020, and a functional prototype of the Emergency Ventilator was built and is in testing in less than two weeks.  To turn the prototype into a scalable reality that can save lives, COVID-19 Ventilators, Inc. needs funding to build a small batch of Emergency Ventilators that can be tested in real life settings as early as the week of March 23, 2020.  The initial prototype is completing basic in-house testing, however, we need your financial contribution immediately to:


Support the initial investment costs of the prototype and non-profit set-up
Complete the final components of the first prototype
Build 10 additional prototypes for clinical testing and FDA approval

As we raise additional funds, all money will be invested in future Emergency Ventilator production costs.  If funds are raised and not needed, they will be directed towards other non-profits supporting COVID-19 community needs.  


More information and for contact information, please see our website at: www.covid19ventilator.org