NEW DELHI: Patients required to stay on ventlators for the long term can now breathe easy -- AIIMS, in collaboration with a private company, has developed an advanced portable ventilator, so small it can slot right into your pocket.
The ventilator can run on natural air flow without a dedicated oxygen supply and can be controlled by an Android app.
The iniative is the branchild of Dr Deepak Agrawal, professor in the department of neurosurgery at AIIMS, who in collaboration with Diwakar Vaish, a robotics researcher who heads A-SET Robotics, developed this fully functional ventilator.
"There are lot of patients in AIIMS and in hospitals across India who are required to be on ventilator for a prolonged period and are unable to arrange them because of the exorbitant costs and the technical expertise required to operate them.
"We have 10 to 15 such patients in the neuro-surgery department itself who are on ventilator for the last two years or more," said Dr Agrawal.
This ventilator is easy to use and soon will be available in the market for a price at less than Rs 15,000.
"We are using the ventilator on some patients as pilot," Dr Agarwal said.
Currently, basic ventilators cost above 2.5 lakhs in the market.