HYDERABAD: The officials of the Prisons and Correctional Services Department have invented a device called Mechanised Respiratory System (MRS), an improvised model of a ventilator. The innovation may prove a lifeline for critical Covid-19 patients with respiratory disorders. The Prisons Department joined hands with prestigious medical research institutions that were working on similar inventions after the outbreak of Coronavirus. And as a result, they could develop an improvised MRS.
The latest invention assumes significance as the entire world, including the developed countries, have been facing severe shortage of ventilators. What most countries need are cost-effective ventilators as treat Covid-19 patients effectively, whose numbers are growing every passing day. That way, they can divert funds to take up other measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
Explaining the project, Director-General of Prisons and Correctional Services Rajiv Trivedi said the newly-developed device is an alternative for the hand-operated plastic pouch called Ambu, a bag resuscitator. In case of an emergency, an attendant of a patient or a medical professional squeezes the bag to help the patient breath in and out. The bag, when squeezed, pumps air into the patient’s lungs. But the latest innovation resuscitates patients without the need for someone to manually operate it.
“The critical Covid-19 patients have difficulty breathing and someone has to use ventilators to help them do so. Given the nature of the disease, it is dangerous for the patient’s family members or even medical staff to be near the patient. This made me think of a device that will do away with the need for someone to be present with critical patients,” said Rajiv Trivedi. Taking a cue from his idea, Cherlapally Open-Air Prison Superintendent Dhasha Ram Reddy developed the device at the department’s workshop.
How does it work?
The device comprises a motor, a mini-transformer, an Ambu bag and oxygen-cylinder connectivity among others. The motor would convert the circular motion into linear motion to squeeze in and out the Ambu bag as per the necessary frequency. As a result, oxygen would be pumped into the patient’s lungs, eliminating the need for an attendant in the earlier version of the ventilator. The resuscitation input can be adjusted from 16 to 30 beats per minute. The device is cost-effective and can be made at `15,000 to `20,000 per unit.