The “Prana-Vayu” ventilator is specially designed to keep the cost low and at the same time to incorporate all the features of an advanced ICU ventilator in it. AIIMS Rishikesh has called this ventilator successful in terms of medical technology after due testing done in various medical conditions.

This ventilator was developed about two-and-a-half-months ago in joint collaboration with IIT Roorkee and AIIMS Rishikesh. The ‘Prana-Vayu’ ventilator can be used for various life-threatening medical conditions requiring a life support system.

After testing the ventilator for various simulated medical conditions, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh described this ventilator as beneficial for use in serious diseases.

The five-member team of AIIMS doctors confirmed its technology and the reliability after testing it at AIIMS’ Advanced Simulation Lab. The advanced features and the low cost of the ventilator are considered as a boon to the medical field.

The team of inventors includes Dr Debendra Tripathy from the Department of Anaesthesiology, AIIMS Rishikesh and Prof Akshay Dvivedi and Prof Arup Kumar Das, both from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee. A self-motivated team of doctoral and bachelor level students of IIT Roorkee helped the inventors at different levels of development.

On the occasion of the testing, AIIMS Director Padmashree Professor Ravikant pointed out that this ventilator has been developed at a time when the global pandemic is underway and when there are not enough ventilators available for the treatment of Corona patients.

He said that this collaborative achievement of AIIMS Rishikesh with IIT Roorkee will undoubtedly prove to be a boon in saving the lives of patients with severe conditions.

Professor Ravikant congratulated the team for having developed a low-cost ventilator with advanced capabilities in record time. He said that this ventilator had been tested several times in the laboratory and presently the trial for various simulated serious diseases condition had also been successful.

Prof Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee said, “This ventilator uses only indigenous components and can become a torchbearer of the government’s Make in India campaign.”

This very low-cost ventilator was invented in the month of April this year. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and facilities to manage a wide range of critical illnesses. The control and monitoring of the ventilator can be done wirelessly.

The ventilator is designed in such a way that it can be used even in makeshift ICU or ICUs without a compressed air supply. The team has built the ventilator using Make in India components, thus substantially reducing the cost of the ventilator.

The starting cost of this ventilator is Rs 25 to 30 thousand.