UK company Dyson has joined the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by designing a new type of medical ventilator in collaboration with Cambridge-based medical company, The Technology Partnership (TTP).
A leading manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, air purifiers and hair dryers, Dyson is now deploying their resources and infrastructure for the production of CoVent, a bed-mounted portable ventilator that can be operated on battery power.
Dyson’s efforts will address the shortage of medical ventilators in the UK. Coronavirus patients who struggle to maintain their respiratory function need ventilator support, making this equipment an important tool in the war against the disease.
Following a call from the British Premier Boris Johnson, Dyson redeployed their resources and expertise to design a new ventilator in 10 days.
This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume, according to an internal email sent to Dyson staff by Sir James Dyson.
“It is designed to address the specific clinical needs of COVID-19 patients, and it is suited to a variety of clinical settings. The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time. The race is now on to get it into production,” reads the email.
Dyson has used their expertise in motor and air purifier technologies to design the new ventilator. CoVent features the Dyson Digital motor, which is designed to have a very high level of intrinsic safety. The ventilator achieves high quality air supply, drawing on Dyson’s air purifier expertise, which delivers high-quality filtration in high-volume products.
The ventilators will need to be tested and approved by UK’s regulatory authorities before it enters production. Dyson will supply 10,000 ventilators to the UK National Health Service (NHS) while 5,000 units will be donated to various countries including the UK, which will receive 1,000 ventilators.
