In manufacuring win, three Indian companies gets license to make NASA's Covid ventilators

Three Indian origin companies have been given licenses by US ncy NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Sourn California for manufacturing a new ventilator that uses one-seventh parts of a traditional ventilator, designed for coronavirus patients. three companies selected are Alpha Design Techlogies, Bharat Forge and Medha Servo Drives.

Apart from three Indian companies, NASA has selected 18 more companies from around  world to manufacture life-saving machine.

READ | NASA says 5 asteroids to cruise past Earth this week; here's India timings

Department of State took to Twitter to congratulate  Indian companies and also to endorse US-India relationship.

"Congrats to 3 Indian companies @NASA selected to make a ventilator specifically designed to treat COVID19 patients. Only 21 licenses were granted worldwide -- a testament to grantees and importance of US-India partnership to combat COVID-19," Bureau of south and central Asian Affairs tweeted. 

READ | NASA astronauts explain difference between X Dragon Crew's ride and Shuttle

JPL engineers designed special ventilator, called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Techlogy Accessible Locally), in little over a month and received ‘Emergency Use Authorization’ from Food and Drug Administration. VITAL will offer a convenient and affordable option for treating critical patients while freeing up traditional ventilators for those with most severe COVID-19 symptoms. It is claimed to be flexible design means it also can be modified for use in field hospitals.

READ | Hollywood designer who made X-NASA's suits also crafted Thor & Loki's helmets

Leon Alkalai, manr of JPL Office of Strategic Partnerships and a member of VITAL leadership team said "VITAL team is very excited to see ir techlogy licensed. Our hope is to have this techlogy reach across world and provide an additional source of solutions to deal with on-going COVID-19 crisis".

VITAL developed with input from doctors & medical device manufacturers

VITAL was developed with input from doctors and medical device manufacturers. A model of JPL device was successfully tested by Human Simulation Lab in Department of Anessiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Mount Sinai on April 23. A modified design, which uses compressed air and can be deployed by a greater range of hospitals, was recently tested at UCLA Simulation Center in Los Angeles. A high-fidelity lung simulator tested almost 20 different ventilator settings, representing a number of scenarios that could be seen in critically ill patients in an intensive care unit.

"VITAL performed well in simulation testing with both precise and reproducible results," said Dr Tisha Wang, clinical chief of UCLA Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. "In addition, setup and operation of ventilator were quick and user-friendly. UCLA team commends JPL for actively contributing to COVID-19 response and successfully addressing one of key medical needs in sickest group of patients."

compressed-air design also has been submitted to FDA for a ventilator Emergency Use Authorization and is currently under review.

READ | South Africa, NASA collaborate to support human missions to Moon, Mars and beyond

(With inputs from ANI)