Dyson will deliver 10,000 new ventilators to help combat COVID-19.
Entrepreneur, inventor and billionaire Sir James Dyson answered Boris Johnson’s call to get a new ventilator into production. And alongside a team of engineers in partnership with Cambridge-based science engineering firm TTP, Sir James has announced that in just ten days the design for the ‘CoVent’ ventilator has been completed and is already awaiting regulatory approval so manufacturing can commence. (Featured image: @dyson)
Emailing staff regarding the design, Sir James explained that the team utilised the technology in the air purifier range of Dyson products and that it was powered by a digital motor. Also, the new ventilator is battery-powered as it needed to be possible to use on the move and in field hospitals. It also obviously needed to be safe, effective and efficient in conserving oxygen.
The first hurdle, designing a medical product under pressure and in a short amount of time, has been completed but as Sir James says, ”the race is now on to get it into production”. The company is also looking at making the ‘CoVent’ ventilator available internationally as other countries are currently in short supply of medical products, namely the much sought after ventilators.
Dyson’s new ventilator comes hot on the heels of a design by Isinnova, a team of young engineers in Italy, who 3D-printed the new ‘Charlotte’ valves in order to convert the widely-available Decathlon snorkelling mask into a non-invasive ventilator.