The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a ventilator as the world struggles to control the Coronavirus Pandemic.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s new ventilator is called VITAL, which stands for Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally.
We usually build spacecraft, not medical devices, but we want to help. Amid the #COVID19 pandemic, we designed a high-pressure ventilator prototype called VITAL. In 37 days, it went from design to a device tested at @MountSinaiNYC; now in @US_FDA review. https://t.co/F9baOTx13M pic.twitter.com/seKGVzyVpE
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 23, 2020
NASA says that VITAL can be used to free up the traditional ventilators for patients with more severe COVID cases in the US.
VITAL has passed a key test at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, ahead of the process for approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
NASA says that VITAL can be built quickly and requires less maintenance than a traditional ventilator. They say that VITAL requires patients to be sedated and an oxygen tube inserted into their airway to breathe.
