NASA selects three Indian companies to manufacture COVID-19 ventilators

Three Indian companies have gotten licences from NASA to manufacture its indigenously developed ventilators for critical COVID-19 patients.

The three Indian companies are Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bharat Forge Ltd and Medha Servo Drives Pvt Ltd, the space organisation said during a press release on Friday.

Apart from the Indian firms, 18 other companies, including eight American and three Brazilian, are selected to manufacture the critical breathing devices.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is an agency for space research, aeronautics and related programmes within the US, developed the ventilator specifically for coronavirus patients at its reaction propulsion Laboratory (JLP) in Southern California.

The JPL engineers designed the special ventilator — called VITAL — in little over a month and received ‘Emergency Use Authorization’ from the Food and Drug Administration on April 30.

The VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) equipment uses one-seventh the parts of a typical ventilator, relying on parts already available in supply chains, the space organisation said.

This high-pressure ventilator offers a simple , affordable option for treating critical patients while freeing up traditional ventilators for those with the foremost severe COVID-19 symptoms. Its flexible design means it can also be modified to be used in field hospitals, the NASA statement read.

“The VITAL team is extremely excited to determine their technology licenced,” said Leon Alkalai, manager of the JPL Office of Strategic Partnerships.

“Our hope is to possess this technology reach across the earth and provide an extra source of solutions to affect the on-going COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
NASA said VITAL was developed with input from doctors and medical device manufacturers.

A prototype of the JPL device was successfully tested by the Human Simulation Lab within the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Sinai on April 23.