Even before the critical global demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the twin challenges of a worldwide aging population and associated lung disease had led to an increased need for ventilators. However, the Covid-19 crisis has heightened the urgent demand for ventilators to extraordinary levels, putting intense pressure on the production capabilities of medical equipment manufacturers.
The simple purpose of a ventilator is to pump air and oxygen into the lungs of a person who is either unable to breathe or is breathing insufficiently. Intensive care unit ventilators also need to monitor the patient’s lungs, using flow, temperature, humidity, and pressure sensors. For critically ill patients, access to a ventilator can be a matter of life and death, and hospitals around the world now have an urgent need for many thousands more of these machines.
This drastic increase in demand has seen medical equipment manufacturers racing to produce more ventilators as quickly as possible. Even some engineering companies from different specialist areas – such as major automotive and aerospace manufacturers – have switched production to help fulfil the global demand for ventilators.
Given the need to minimize product time-to-market, both existing and new manufacturers are heavily dependent on their component suppliers. Now more than ever, they need trusted suppliers with extensive knowledge of the market and its regulations, technical expertise, and widely proven solutions. These can help to fast track the design and certification processes and support a rapid ramp up of production to help meet demanding delivery schedules and ultimately save lives.
Emerson expertise
Emerson has extensive technical expertise and experience in providing rapid and reliable product development solutions for intensive care, emergency and anesthesia ventilators, and is prioritizing orders from medical device companies.
To operate efficiently, a ventilator requires very precise and reliable control of gases. Flow control solutions, such as high flow proportional valves, must be able to quickly change the oxygen percentage to precisely deliver the right gas mix according to patient needs. It is expected that flow solutions will provide a long period of operation without requiring maintenance. For ventilators used in a home care environment, components must be very compact, provide quiet operation, and not require large power consumption.
Products and Customized Solutions
Emerson’s extensive range of durable and proven flow control solutions enables manufacturers to source either standard proportional and general service valves or a complete customized gas control solution from a single supplier, shortening their development timeline and reducing costs. The range includes:
● Regulators – the TESCOM PS-3400 Series is a compact, high-purity cylinder regulator with tied diaphragms for flows of gases. It is ideal for the application to reduce oxygen and gas cylinder pressures to those that can be used to mix ventilator and anesthesia gases.
Emerson not only provides an extensive range of proven, reliable and ISO-certified products, but also offers rapid engineered solutions, enabling samples – from standard valves to customized solutions – to be delivered in a matter of days. Emerson can also provide design assistance from a global team of engineering personnel with experience and expertise in designing solutions for ventilators. This enables manufacturers to partner with a trusted supplier that can be relied upon to meet their product specifications and advise them in regard to the stringent regulatory demands of the oxygen therapy sector.
For more information about ventilation products and applications please click here.
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