Toaster-sized ventilator from India helps hospitals in coronavirus fight
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Originally created by a robot scientist and a neurosurgeon to help India's poor, a toaster-sized ventilator is offering hope in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic and demand is booming.
The virus at its most lethal attacks the lungs, making ventilators - which pump breathable air into a patient - critical for hospitals around the world as they are swamped with cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
With the toll rising in India, where a nationwide lockdown is in force, production of AgVa's portable ventilator has shot up from 500 a month to 20,000.
"There was no way we could have foreseen something as big as this," said neurosurgeon Deepak Agrawal, who co-developed the device with robot scientist Diwakar Vaish.
Priced at around US$2,000 (S$3,139), the AgVa ventilator is a fraction of the price of conventional ventilators, which go for more than US$10,000.
India, like most countries, has a critical shortage of beds and ventilators for its 1.3 billion people. The South Asian nation has so far reported more than 1,600 cases and 38 deaths from Covid-19.
To boost preparedness for a surge in cases, the Indian government has banned the export of coronavirus-linked medical exports, including ventilators.
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