How to Solve the Coronavirus Ventilator Shortage

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“The immediate requirement for tens of thousands of ventilators suggests the need for a simple, more easily-constructed, and less-expensive device. ”

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Mechanical ventilators play a critical role in the management of patients with severe respiratory illness, such as COVID-19, who require assistance because they cannot breathe effectively. By placing a patient on a ventilator, the patient’s lungs are permitted to rest and recover while the ventilator performs the functions of supplying oxygen and simulating the actions of breathing. Without ventilatory support, some patients with severe respiratory disease might not survive.

There is a pressing need for rapid production of tens of thousands mechanical ventilators. The largest manufacturers of these devices are Becton Dickenson, Philips, Hamilton Medical, Draeger, Medtronic, GE Healthcare, and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare. Ventilators produced by these companies are complex in design, have hundreds of specialized parts which are multi- sourced, and cost between $16,000 and $34,000 dollars. Additionally, repurposing other manufacturing facilities will take considerable time that we cannot afford.

“Although this ventilator is no longer produced and used today, it is medically sound and proven technology.”

The immediate requirement for tens of thousands of ventilators suggests the need for a simple, more easily-constructed, and less-expensive device. The Bird Mark 7/8 ventilator is a “low tech,” easy-to-manufacture device that fills the need for positive pressure ventilation. It is driven by compressed air and does not require electrical connectivity. The Bird can be produced in large quantities quickly. The cost of each ventilator would be between $1,000 and $2,000.

The Bird Corporation was founded by Forest M. Bird, M.D., Ph.D. (1921-2015). He invented a number of devices for patients with breathing problems. The Bird Mark 7/8 ventilators were based on devices that he developed during WWII, while studying respiratory and cardiovascular problems at high altitude for the Army Air Corps.

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“Additionally, repurposing other manufacturing facilities will take considerable time that we cannot afford.”

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The Mark 7 was introduced in 1957, when American physicians were beginning to use ventilators in greater numbers. They were used in the operating room by anesthesiologists and at the bedside by internists and pulmonologists. These early ventilators were manufactured for Bird by the National Welding Company. The Mark 7/8 ventilator was used into the 1980s. In recognition of his contribution and achievement in medical device technology, Dr. Bird was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1995, and in 2008 he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The Bird Mark 7/8 ventilator was the clinical standard for mechanical ventilation of patients in the operating room, post-anesthesia care units, and intensive care units between 1957 and the mid -1980s. Although this ventilator is no longer produced and used today, it is medically sound and proven technology and is suitable to address the current shortage of and urgent demand for serviceable ventilators confronting us now. This mechanically simple device can be rapidly manufactured from easily sourced components. The Bird Mark 7/8 is viable ventilator solution for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Author

  • Jeffrey A. Berman, M.D. is the medical director of SOBA New Jersey and Discovery Institute. He is a board-certified Anesthesiologist and Consultation-Addiction Psychiatrist. He completed his post-graduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and received his M.S. from NYU-Polytechnic School of Engineering. Dr. Berman is an innovator in medical devices and medication delivery systems in private practice, public health, and in the military [Colonel (Ret.), U.S. Army]. He is available to advise and assist governmental, public, private, and not-for-profit agencies attempting to meet the urgent demand for ventilators or other medical supplies. He can be contacted at 201-394-7491.

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