In medical emergencies, manual resuscitation using a Bag-valve-mask (BVM) or Ambu Bag becomes tiresome and is liable to human error, as it requires the operator to squeeze at a predetermined, consistent frequency to provide necessary ventilation. Many Ambu bags do not have an indicator to show the pressure being applied to the patient. They also lack built-in tidal volume or respiratory rate control. The use of an Ambu bag may lead to unregulated air supply to the lungs, leading to irregular breathing, which can cause poor oxygen supply to the brain and other vital organs and resultantly, irreparable brain or organ damage.

The Emergency Ventilator helps incubate infants and children in the emergency room where there is a shortage of mechanical ventilators in low-resource settings. The device aims to help save casualties arising from shortage of ventilators and staff in the emergency room for manual ventilation. The Emergency Ventilator is a three-chambered device, which contains a conventional Ambu bag in the center, provides automated squeezing compressions at a predefined frequency to maintain a uniform positive airway pressure being supplied to the patient. The portable, automated, low-power consuming Emergency Ventilator utilizes a self-adjusting algorithm to regulate the pressure applied to the lungs of the patient. The operator can predefine the tidal volume, pressure and respiratory rate as per the requirement of the patient, as a result of which the Ambu bag is compressed linearly with the aid of actuators at the required cycles per minute. An oxygen cylinder can also be connected to the Ambu bag to supply oxygen to the patient upon compression.

The Emergency Ventilator enables intelligent management of the pressure applied to the patient with the help of self-adjusting pressure algorithms, resulting in automated and hands-free pumping through the Ambu bag for use in clinical settings (emergency room, wards, ambulance), as well as at home, with a variable frequency and pressure applications. It provides comfort to caregivers and ensures adequate and effective ventilation, as required by the patient.

AKDN dHRC in collaboration with the Breathhack team, a group of clinicians and researchers, designed the motor that is attached to an ambu bag. The device was the winner of the CCIT Hack 2016, Aga Khan University’s first medical hackathon hosted by AKU’s Critical Creative Innovative Thinking (CCIT) team.