 | |
| Industry | Medical devices |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 January 2012  |
| Founder | Doug DeVries |
| Headquarters | Bothell, Washington |
Key people | Jim Alwan (Chief executive officer) Chris Brooks (Chief strategy officer) Doug DeVries (Chief technology officer) [1] |
| Products | VOCSN |
| Website | www |
Ventec Life Systems is an American medical device company based in Bothell, Washington.
Ventec Life Systems was founded in Bothell, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, [2] by Doug DeVries. [3] According to the New York Times , Ventec is known for its VOCSN model, which received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2017. The VOCSN is the size of a large toaster oven, and combines a number of functions that had previously been performed by several different machines to pump air into the lungs, suction out secretions, and produce oxygen when a central oxygen line is not available. It is used in critical-care hospital units and in home care. [4] Jim Alwan is the CEO of Ventec [5] and the Chief Strategy Officer of the company is Chris Brooks. [6]
Ventec developed the VOCSN unified respiratory system, which is a portable personal medical device that includes a ventilator, 6 L/min portable oxygen concentrator, cough assist, suction, and nebulization therapies for the patient. [7] The name of the device is an acronym derived from the names of these five functions. [8] It received FDA approval in April 2017, [9] and began to roll out in 2018. [10] [11] The weight of the device is about eighteen pounds. [12] It is designed for use by both children and adults to treat conditions such as muscular degeneration, spinal cord injury, and underdeveloped lungs. [13] As of 2017 it was medically cleared for use in the US and Japan. [14] According to NBC News, its ventilators are transportable and include advanced data monitoring, as well as internal controls to make the most of oxygen consumption. The five-in-one technology compresses 55 pounds of equipment into 18 pounds, and it has a nine-hour battery life. [15]
On March 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, General Motors announced a partnership with Ventec Life Systems to produce ventilators. The partnership was expected to build 10,000 ventilators per month at GM's facilities in Kokomo, Indiana, using Ventec's VOCSN platform. [16] [17] Ventec is one of twelve worldwide manufacturers of ventilators. [18] However, the partnership between Ventec and GM quickly received a $489 million government contract to deliver 30,000 VOCSN Critical Care Ventilators to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The delivered the first critical care ventilators to medical professionals that month, producing one ventilator every seven minutes in an effort the New Yorker called a "fighter jet in a race with prop planes". [19] [20] [21] [22] The partnership was named one of the 2020 "Top 10 Most Innovative Joint Ventures" by FastCompany. [23]
A ventilator is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are computerized microprocessor-controlled machines, but patients can also be ventilated with a simple, hand-operated bag valve mask. Ventilators are chiefly used in intensive-care medicine, home care, and emergency medicine and in anesthesiology.
Mechanical ventilation, assisted ventilation or intermittent mandatory ventilation (IMV), is the medical term for using a machine called a ventilator to fully or partially provide artificial ventilation. Mechanical ventilation helps move air into and out of the lungs, with the main goal of helping the delivery of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide. Mechanical ventilation is used for many reasons, including to protect the airway due to mechanical or neurologic cause, to ensure adequate oxygenation, or to remove excess carbon dioxide from the lungs. Various healthcare providers are involved with the use of mechanical ventilation and people who require ventilators are typically monitored in an intensive care unit.
An anaesthetic machine or anesthesia machine is a medical device used to generate and mix a fresh gas flow of medical gases and inhalational anaesthetic agents for the purpose of inducing and maintaining anaesthesia.
The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), originally called the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS), is the United States' national repository of antibiotics, vaccines, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, and other critical medical supplies. As its website states:
"The Strategic National Stockpile's role is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies. Many states have products stockpiled, as well. The supplies, medicines, and devices for life-saving care contained in the stockpile can be used as a short-term stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of adequate amounts of these materials may not be immediately available."
An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream. They are used industrially and as medical devices for oxygen therapy.
Dräger is a German company based in Lübeck which makes breathing and protection equipment, gas detection and analysis systems, and noninvasive patient monitoring technologies. Customers include hospitals, fire departments and diving companies.
ResMed is a San Diego, California-based medical device company. It primarily provides cloud-connectable CPAP devices and masks for the treatment of sleep apnea, as well as devices and masks for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), neuromuscular disease, and other respiratory-related conditions. It also provides a self-monitoring digital sensor and app for people who use inhalers to treat COPD or asthma via Propeller Health, which ResMed acquired in 2019.
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a diagnostic method of the lower respiratory system in which a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth or nose into an appropriate airway in the lungs, with a measured amount of fluid introduced and then collected for examination. This method is typically performed to diagnose pathogenic infections of the lower respiratory airways, though it also has been shown to have utility in diagnosing interstitial lung disease. Bronchoalveolar lavage can be a more sensitive method of detection than nasal swabs in respiratory molecular diagnostics, as has been the case with SARS-CoV-2 where bronchoalveolar lavage samples detect copies of viral RNA after negative nasal swab testing.
Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. is an American medical technology provider that is a subsidiary of Baxter International.
This article discusses the definitions and types of home medical equipment (HME), also known as durable medical equipment (DME), and durable medical equipment prosthetics and orthotics (DMEPOS).
Puritan Bennett has been a provider of respiratory products since 1913 originally as a medical gas supplier. In addition to critical care ventilation, Puritan Bennett provided medical devices for patients outside of the acute care environment. Its products included portable ventilation, oxygen therapy systems, sleep diagnostic and sleep therapy equipment, spirometry and other respiratory care products.
A portable oxygen concentrator (POC) is a device used to provide oxygen therapy to people that require greater oxygen concentrations than the levels of ambient air. It is similar to a home oxygen concentrator (OC), but is smaller in size and more mobile. They are small enough to carry and many are now FAA-approved for use on airplanes.
An orinasal mask, oro-nasal mask or oral-nasal mask is a breathing mask that covers the mouth and the nose only. It may be a complete independent item, as an oxygen mask, or on some anaesthetic apparatuses, or it may be fitted as a component inside a fullface mask on underwater breathing apparatus, a gas mask or an industrial respirator to reduce the amount of dead space. It may be designed for its lower edge to seal on the front of the lower jaw or to go under the chin.
A negative pressure ventilator (NPV) is a type of mechanical ventilator that stimulates an ill person's breathing by periodically applying negative air pressure to their body to expand and contract the chest cavity.
AgVa Ventilator is a mechanical ventilator developed in collaboration with Indian scientist Diwakar Vaish of A-SET Robotics and Dr. Deepak Agrawal, professor of Neurosurgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. AgVa is designed to be a cost effective and compact ventilator with the ability to push Oxygen as well as atmospheric air, it also has the ability to control ventilator parameters through an Android application.
Shortages of medical materials, manufacturing and consumer goods caused by the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became a major issue worldwide, as did interruptions to the global supply chain, which has challenged supply chain resilience across the globe. Shortages of personal protective equipment, such as medical masks and gloves, face shields, and sanitizing products, along with hospital beds, ICU beds, oxygen therapy equipment, ventilators, and ECMO devices were reported in most countries.
An open-source ventilator is a disaster-situation ventilator made using a freely licensed (open-source) design, and ideally, freely available components and parts. Designs, components, and parts may be anywhere from completely reverse-engineered or completely new creations, components may be adaptations of various inexpensive existing products, and special hard-to-find and/or expensive parts may be 3D-printed instead of purchased. As of early 2020, the levels of documentation and testing of open-source ventilators was well below scientific and medical-grade standards.
There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One year into the pandemic, highly effective vaccines have now been introduced and are beginning to reduce mortality related to SARS-CoV-2; however, for those awaiting vaccination, as well as for the estimated millions of immunocompromised persons who are unlikely to respond robustly to vaccination, treatment remains important. Thus, the lack of progress developing effective treatments means that the cornerstone of management of COVID‑19 has been supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.
The United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic with consists of various measures by the medical community; the federal, state, and local governments; the military; and the private sector. The public response has been highly polarized, with partisan divides being observed and a number of concurrent protests and unrest complicating the response.