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The battle to tackle the UK’s ventilator shortage went into overdrive today with Britain’s inventors and scientists racing to save thousands of lives.
Officials gave the green light for a “flatpack” ventilator designed by scientists from Oxford University and King’s College London to go for fast clinical trials.
The Dyson household appliances company is to build 10,000 ventilators after an order from the Government.
British inventor Sir James Dyson said his firm had designed a new type of ventilator. The order is subject to the devices passing tests but that is expected soon.
The NHS has just over 8,000 ventilators, but it is likely to need at least 30,000 to treat an expected flood of victims.
OxVent, developed by scientists from Oxford and London universities, will go into tests and could be deployed within weeks.
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The team took a design from drawing board to working prototype in a week, working around the clock.
Built using off-the-shelf parts to eliminate the need for 3D printing of complex components, OxVent is described as a “basic bit of kit that gets the job done and saves lives”.
Dr Federico Formenti, a physiologist and sports scientist at King’s College London, told the Standard: “The main target for us is not delivering something which is sophisticated and high-end, it’s to deliver something that is safe, on time for when it’s needed.”