Greek Australian professor Andreas Fouras, with a team of Australian scientists, have created a groundbreaking “field ventilator” for coronavirus relief, The Herald Sun reports. The low-cost medical tool will help to help combat coronavirus in remote regions of Australia and overseas where hospital emergency resources are limited.
The product was developed by Melbourne-based medical tech group 4Dx, alongside the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMR), the University of Adelaide as well as independent peer reviews and testing.
“I’m actually sincerely hoping no-one uses it which is the funny thing to say about putting so much time and effort into it,” Professor Fouras told News Corp Australia.
“But it has become clear no-one could build them fast enough or cheap enough to supply in large numbers to places that are not as fortunate as the great hospitals we have in Australia.”
The Herald Sun reports that the ventilators will be going into production in Australia, meaning there will be no issues with supply lines and can be directly dispatched from here to those most in need.
Andreas Fouras, 4Dx founder and biomedical engineer, developed the device initially as a research tool but repurposed the device due to COVID-19 and fears of a ventilator global shortage.
The device is being sold as a low-cost, easy use and minimal training product, priced at $2000 as opposed to $16,000 for ICU models.
“We’ve made sure the device is really not only unbreakable but nice and simple to use, you turn it on, a couple of settings and if you don’t want to touch those even then it’s good to go, turn it on and its good to go hopefully to save lives,” he said.
Professor Fouras had previously developed a new non-invasive X-ray technology in February this year, which fast-tracked lung treatments for patients.
