BOGOTA – Engineers in Colombia have developed a mechanical ventilator for COVID-19 patients that could cost as little as $2,000 — one of numerous crash projects around the world aimed at helping ease a global shortage of the devices.
The bedside machine is about the size of a small television, and is made up of valves and pressure sensors that regulate the amount of oxygen pumped into a patient’s lungs through a plastic tube.
It’s one of the latest efforts around the world to produce pared down, emergency versions of full feature ventilators, which have become more expensive as governments try to outbid each other to purchase them. “Commercial ventilator factories around the world are struggling to keep up with orders,” said Julian