Development of a Portable Mechanical Ventilator using 3D Origami Tubes to Fight COVID-19

拟议的项目涉及西蒙弗雷泽大学（SFU） Woo Soo Kim博士的团队，共同申请人，不列颠哥伦比亚大学（UBC）护理学助理教授Lillian Hung博士，医疗保健合作者，目前每天与COVID-19患者互动的温哥华综合医院（VGH）呼吸治疗部门的Ingrid Hakanson女士，呼吸机制造商，不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华Pantheon设计，以及一家3D打印机制造商，用于大规模生产便携式呼吸机，即BC省的Tinkerine Delta。为此，我们提出了一种低成本的便携式3D打印折纸管机械呼吸机的设计和原型制作，用于COVID-19大规模流行和资源匮乏的环境。提出的机械呼吸机通过收缩3D设计的Origami管来提供呼吸，而不是压缩传统的袋阀面罩（BVM）。3D设计的折纸管的体积变化将超过原始体积的85%，而传统的折纸管的体积变化为25%。因此，所提出的呼吸机可以变得比便携应用的传统呼吸机小得多。

The proposed project involves a joint effort between Dr. Woo Soo Kim's team at Simon Fraser University (SFU), a co-applicant, Dr. Lillian Hung, Assistant Professor in the University of British Columbia (UBC) Nursing, a Healthcare collaborator, Ms. Ingrid Hakanson, Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)'s Respiratory Therapy Department who are currently interacting with COVID-19 patients daily, the manufacturer of the ventilator, Pantheon design, Vancouver in BC, and one 3D printer manufacturer for mass production of the portable ventilator, Tinkerine, Delta in BC. We propose here the design and prototyping of a low-cost portable 3D printed mechanical ventilator with Origami tubes for the use in mass pandemic situation and resource-poor environment with COVID-19. The proposed mechanical ventilator delivers breaths by contracting 3D designed Origami tube instead of compressing a conventional bag-valve mask (BVM). The 3D designed Origami tube will change its volume more than 85 % of the original volume, which is compared with conventional BVM's 25 % volume change. Therefore, the proposed ventilator can become much smaller size than the conventional one for the portable application. With a timely investment, the team will generate pivotal breakthrough for a portable ventilator, creating a full-fledged manufacturing platform poised to benefit from optimized design, low-cost processing, and mechanical durability. The proposed research presents a new direction within the medical ventilator design sector; there are very few research projects focusing on the manufacturing of a portable ventilator air bag and their systematic applications for COVID-19. The portable ventilator technology has already generated worldwide interest. But, 3D printable self-foldable portable ventilator concept is quite new and unique. Therefore, Canada will be poised with a global technology advantage with this development. Our future goal is to make the Origami air tube versatile for many other types of mechanical ventilator applications.