Nick Davey, Chief Technology Officer for STI and IMI, has been speaking at a series of virtual consultative and information-sharing sessions with Philippines medical experts, health practitioners and concerned government agencies this week.
The aim of these sessions is to explore non-invasive alternative ventilator solutions for Covid-19 patients. This follows the Philippine government’s call for the local sourcing and manufacturing of low-cost ventilators and other breathing aid solutions in caring for COVID-19 patients all over the country.
CPAP is a form of ventilator that applies mild air pressure continuously and effectively supports patients with breathing difficulties. The proposed solution is a non-profit initiative based on an existing off-patent CPAP system that has been further modified to optimize oxygen consumption.
The Ventura CPAP system is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the UK. Its design is licensed from the University College London Hospital (UCLH) and Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains under special conditions particularly for use in COVID-19 cases. The proponents in the UK have granted a license to IMI in the manufacturing of the product in the Philippines. UCLH reported that the use of the Ventura CPAP system has resulted in 60-70% success of sustaining COVID-19 patients needing intubation. The patients eventually went on to full recovery. IMI is exploring the possibility of locally manufacturing the system.