“Jeevan” the low-cost ventilator prototype developed by Indian Railways
Indian Railways has already amazed us by converting the train coaches into isolation wards. Till now, almost 20,000 train coaches got converted into Isolation wards. The most noteworthy fact is that it contain 3,20,000 beds for COVID-19 patients. This time the Indian Railways came up with another innovative idea of the low-cost ventilator. The reason behind this idea is the availability of ventilators in the emergency. Indian Railways named the prototype of the low-cost ventilator as “Jeevan”.
Indian Railways developed a low-cost ventilator named “Jeevan” at its Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory. The low-cost ventilator aims to save thousands of lives at a time in the time of coronavirus pandemic. “Jeevan” will be a boon in the shortage of medical equipment at the time of emergency.
What is a ventilator?
A ventilator provides oxygen to the patient, who is critical by pumping air and oxygen into the lungs. The ventilator is used with the critical patient having a severe respiratory illness.
What is the cost of the “Jeevan”?
It will cost around ₹10,000 without the compressor. The cost of the “Jeevan” is not even 1/4th of the cost of the actual ventilator.
How many ventilators can Indian Railways produce in a day?
After the ICMR approval, the Indian Railways can produce around 100 such ventilators a day.
Who is behind the idea of the low-cost ventilator, “Jeevan”?
PTI told that Ravinder Gupta, the general manager of the RCF is the man behind the idea of it and the team of 11 members is behind the development of the low-cost ventilator.
How many ventilators does India need in the worst-case scenario?
Around 110,000-220,000 ventilators India might need in the worst-case scenario. The immediate development of the ventilators in the nation is next to impossible. The ventilators outside cost around ₹5- ₹15 lacs according to a Brookings report.
How many ventilators are currently available in the country?
The number of ventilators currently available in the country is a maximum of 57,000 and comes with a cost of ₹5- ₹15 lakh, according to a Brookings report.
What is the mechanism of “Jeevan”?
Ravinder Gupta said “the heart of the device is the compressed air container to work the Ambu bag with air without any moving parts like servo motor or piston or link mechanism. It has a microprocessor-based controller and the circuit has been designed by the RCF team”.
According to the Railways, a valve is set to regulate the breathing of the patient. The device can be modified to the more compact size if needed. The machine operates silently.
Ravinder Gupta also added that the prototype is made from materials present in the factory –
- Portable compressor from the air cooling machine.
- Body from coach components.
- An argon flow meter from a laser welding machine.
- Microprocessor from the coach information system.
The 11-member team behind the low-cost “Jeevan” needed to import only two parts
- Regulator valve
- Microprocessor
The parts are imported from vendors in Delhi and Noida. “The RCF used emergency transit services to get the two components by road and train during the lockdown”, he added.
Does “Jeevan” work like a normal ventilator?
“Jeevan” provides control on breathing rate, expiratory ratio, and tidal volume. Almost all the important parameters for any ventilator is present in the “Jeevan” and also has a microprocessor-based controlling system.
Will further modifications increase the cost of “Jeevan”?
Further modifications like indicators and some few add ons will not increase its price more than 30,000 bucks. All the systems present in the “Jeevan” works independently.
How does the “Jeevan” prototype look?
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India report of April 5, there are currently 3851 active cases in India, death toll rises to 111 and 318 cured.
Currently, the Indian Railways are waiting for the approval of ICMR. The prototype is quite impressive furthermore under the budget. Above all if the Indian Railways succeed in developing the low-cost ventilator then probably it is going to be a boon for India.
India here is proving to the whole world that it can handle the worst-case scenario through the preparation. The Indian Railways workshops are working day and night. The isolation coaches are most probably ready and also if the “Jeevan” got approval from ICMR then the Indian Railways workshop will hence work even harder to meet the needs.
Preparation of prototype at Kapurthala
The whole nation, public, administration, paramedical staff, etc. are trying their best possible way to completely eradicate the coronavirus from the nation.