Innovative Raspberry Pi-Powered Ventilator Undergoing Testing in Colombia

Ventilators have been an essential part of the fight against COVID-19. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Marco Mascarro, a robotics engineer from California, told BBC that he is “a true believer that technology can solve a lot of the problems…  in this pandemic.” 

That belief prompted him to post the design and computer code for a Raspberry Pi-powered ventilator. Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, credit-card-sized computer that, when combined with easy-to-source parts, could create life-saving equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Inclusion of the Raspberry Pi computer is important because its computing power would set the air pressure of the ventilator, open and close valves, and regulate the quantity of breathing assistance needed by the patient. All parts required for this ventilator are easy to obtain, which allows this ventilator design to potentially have widespread use. 

After Mascarro posted his initial design, he received feedback from various members of the healthcare industry and used that feedback to make improvements to his ventilator. 

Now, the machine will undergo rounds of tests at the University Hospital of the Pontifical Xavierian University and Los Andes University, both in Bogota, Colombia. The tests will be fast-tracked to account for the massive need for such ventilators at this time of global uncertainty.

The layout of the tests is as follows: 

First, the ventilator equipment will run non-stop for five days, tested on a pair of artificial lungs. If this phase is passed, the ventilator will be tested in animal trials. If these tests are passed as well, human trials will be the final step. Groups testing the ventilators in Colombia hope to begin human trials by May and be able to use mass-produced versions of the ventilator in hospitals by mid-year. 

Some doctors are wary to rush such testing, which would normally take about 18 months, but some are eager to fast-track and spread any technology which could help ameliorate the pandemic.