Last Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Spiro Wave, a "bridge" artificial respirator that helps people breathe when their condition is not important enough to require a standard ventilator. Notable is that the device was only on the market for a month after learning that New York City was facing a serious shortage of ventilators. It's a good story New York Times It is worth reading.
It started in March as a warning began in Italy in March that the United States would face a serious shortage of ventilators. At first, it seemed impossible to develop such a complex machine quickly enough.
But soon we found the design of a basic ventilator that could be used as a core technology. Since then, they have organized extensive collaborations with scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, doctors and regulatory experts in New York and achieved what usually takes more than a year in a month. ”
Several groups were involved in the work, coordinated by Scott Cohen and Marcel Botha. Cohen is the co-founder of the Technology Center for Researchers and Startups, and Botha is the chief executive of product design and development companies. However, the project also involved companies such as MIT's academia, whose original design was created 10 years ago, the New York City government that invested in the project, and Honeywell, who could provide short building materials with short notice.
“Producing thousands of machines sometimes means sorting rare supplies. One of these parts can cause damage to the pneumatic sensor so that the patient's lungs do not over-expand. Cohen knew Honeywell was a major producer of sensors, and leveraged a personal contact network to secure volume.
One night, Mr. Cohen called Catherine Wylde, chief executive of the New York City Partnership, a group of New York City executives. Kevin Burke, former Chief Executive Officer of Con Edison in New York, is the Honeywell Director. The sensors were secured after a series of calls to Honeywell executives in the US and Asia. ”
The result of this project is a low-cost ventilator that will become the “most important tool” according to New York mayor Bill de Blasio. The group behind the ventilator has been accessed by companies and governments around the world and plans to license the design of the ventilator for free. During New York Times The city's own crisis seems to be alleviating, and the Spiro Wave will still help, especially in other parts of the country where there are no large medical centers.
You can read New York Times'Please report the whole thing here.