IIT Hyderabad's startup develops low-cost ventilator to fight COVID-19 pandemic

Amid the acute shortage of ventilators in the nation owing to the deadly pandemic of Coronavirus, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad has come up with a low-cost, portable, emergency-use ventilator. IIT Hyderabad’s Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE) incubated startup Aerobiosys Innovations has developed the ventilator naming it ‘Jeevan Lite’.

The ventilator is internet-of-things enabled and can be operated via a phone app, thus offering protection to healthcare providers, moreover, it can also be operated on battery, enabling deployment in areas without assured power supply. Jeevan Lite can perform both the invasive and non-invasive ventilation across a comprehensive set of modes and settings. It can be used for pediatric and adult patients and will work on rechargeable lithium-ion Batteries in an uninterrupted manner for five hours without power supply. Once the device gets the due certification, Aerobiosys Innovations aims to produce at least 50 to 70 units per day through collaboration with an Industrial Partner.

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Speaking of the IoT enabled monitoring, Director of IIT Hyderabad, Professor BS Murty said, "Senior citizens and elderly patients affected by COVID-19 will need ventilators for emergency life support. Aerobiosys has gone one step ahead by providing personal protection to the healthcare providers through IoT-enabled monitoring."

Aerobiosys has developed a mobile app that communicates with the unit and seamlessly controls the functional features of the ventilator that would provide enough isolation to the patient and protection to healthcare providers and family members.

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Speaking about this project, Professor Renu John, Faculty Co-Head, Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship, and Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, said, "Jeevan Lite solution from Aerobiosys, unlike other low-cost models, is loaded with features including wireless connectivity and remote monitoring that makes it unique and equipped to meet the demands of a pandemic situation like the COVID-19 infection. I strongly urge the industry partners and the government to come up to handhold the start-up towards a large scale-up."

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(With ANI inputs)