Low-cost Ventilators Produced by Rio’s Federal University Deliver Positive Results

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The low-cost ventilators produced by researchers at Coppe/UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) have already been tested in Covid-19 patients and produced positive results.

The research, which was granted R$239,000 (US$48,000) in funding from the Rio de Janeiro State Research Support Foundation (FAPERJ), is in its final stages of completion. Five patients admitted to the Clementino Fraga Filho Hospital, linked to the university, took part in the study of the pulmonary ventilation device, which can cost less than a tenth of the usual market price of R$100,000 (US$20,000).

The low-cost ventilator – with an average unit cost of R$8,500 – has already been successfully tested at the INMETRO (National Institute of Metrology, Standardization, and Industrial Quality), and tests are currently being completed at the Electric Energy Research Center (CEPEL).

According to the project coordinator, Professor Jurandir Nadal, of Coppe/UFRJ, the VExCO registration application will be submitted to ANVISA (National Health Regulatory Agency) in the first week of August in order to be manufactured and distributed free of charge to the SUS (National Health System) hospitals in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

“This work involved some 70 people and our goal is to donate the equipment to support the public health system, using the donated funds. Therefore, it will not be sold. There will be no profit and not even taxes”, said the project coordinator and head of the Coppe Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Engineering Laboratory, Professor Jurandir Nadal.

Trials on patients

Two models of the equipment installed in the ICUs of the Fundão Hospital reproduced the ventilation method to which five patients in critical condition were being submitted: three of them in the Covid-19 unit and two in the non-coronavirus unit. The trials, which were carried out with the cooperation of the Center for Bioethics and Applied Ethics at UFRJ, were uneventful, proving the product’s safety developed specifically for the treatment of critically ill Covid-19 patients.

The VExCO was developed in close cooperation between researchers from several UFRJ units, Petrobras and Whirlpool. Before being used in humans, the equipment was tested on five animals in May, as required by the National Commission on Ethics in Research. The trials were conducted with the cooperation of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and the Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho of UFRJ.

FAPERJ: emergency call to fight Covid-19

The low-cost ventilator project is part of the State Government’s emergency effort to promote science. The total cost of the effort has risen to R$35 million since the start of the pandemic.

“This project is a fine example of how through an Emergency Call to tackle Covid-19 (Call B), FAPERJ welcomed the project, conducted the trials, retained and released the funds very quickly. This support was crucial for the project to seek additional funding and other partnerships,” said Jerson Lima Silva, president of FAPERJ.

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