MISSION STATEMENT
BREATHNEY is an R&D-project to duplicate full functionality of a medical ventilator, with the needed accuracy, robustness and reliability, while selecting only parts that can be quickly sourced in large volume from non-medical industrial sectors.
The goal is a redesign-from-scratch of an existing technology for mass rapid manufacture.
HISTORY
This project was started on March 17th by a small group of engineers at Fablab Brussels as a 4-day rush to replicate the MIT-ambubag concept:
http://web.mit.edu/2.75/projects/DMD_2010_Al_Husseini.pdf
We based our spec list initially on the specifications needed for a ventilator for ADRS-patients, written by Julian Botta, Johns Hopkins Hospital:
Specifications for simple open source mechanical ventilator Public
We have benefitted from advice from UZ Brussel as well as Industry.
During April the project grew into a 50+ team of volunteers and industry in a non-profit effort to develop a rapid-manufacturable, open-source ventilator for COVID-19.
The result was Breathney Version 1, a series of test machines built around a reusable ambu bag.
These machines were tested against the requirements specified in the MHRA-publication « Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System » and submitted to reliability and endurance testing.
While the peak has passed in Belgium and Europe, where the machines were not neededn development on the project continues with a smaller team.
The lessons learned during development and testing of these machines, are being implemented in a Version 2 machine.
Prototype 7 – April 2nd
