Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies engineering, the automobile company Nissan and the Eurecat technology centre have developed the Q-Vent respirator for use in hospital ICUs to alleviate the lack of equipment generated by COVID-19 throughout the world. The design of the respirator is intended to contribute to supplying emerging countries, given its performance in terms of accessibility, flexibility and reliability.
The Q-Vent ventilator, which has already been authorised by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Products (AEMPS) for use in clinical research, has been tested at the facilities of the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau (Barcelona) with excellent results. The first 20 units will be given to CatSalut, in order to continue contributing to the provision of resources in the ICUs of Catalonia and to the development of the ongoing clinical study for the optimization of the equipment.
Q-Vent is a 22kg portable equipment developed by QEV Technologies and the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau that automates a resuscitator device that manually assists the patient’s breathing, in order to make up for the lack of conventional automatic respirators in the face of the emergency situation generated by the new coronavirus worldwide.
The objective of the Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies, Nissan and Eurecat is to make available to any market an accessible and easy-to-use respirator that is at the same time robust and reliable.
“From the beginning of the epidemic we took on the challenge of developing a low-cost portable system that could reach all corners of the world, especially in those emerging countries where the COVID-19 was going to cause great damage and where most patients would not have access to respirators. And thanks to the effort and will of all, it has been achieved,” explains Miguel Valldecabres, CEO of QEV Technologies.
“From Sant Pau we support this initiative to fight against COVID-19. We believe it is necessary to help emerging countries that have lower economic capacities than those we have in Europe and that is why we support the QEV Technologies project so that this ventilator can be useful in ICUs anywhere in the world”, confirms Dr. José M. Guerra, scientific coordinator of the project, a doctor from the Arrhythmia Unit of the Hospital de Sant Pau and coordinator of the Clinical and Translational Cardiology Research Group of the research institute of this centre.
Nissan develops the production process
Production of the Q-Vent will begin this week at Nissan’s Zona Franca engine and gearbox plant, where engineers have developed the production process for mass production, with a capacity of 180 units per day.
Eurecat has been in charge of advising on the design of components and the production of some of them, as well as managing the process for including hospitals in the clinical study, as is the case with the Althaia Foundation (Hospital Red Asistencial Universitaria de Manresa).
Control of frequency, pressure and volume of oxygen supplied
Q-Vent allows you to control the values of frequency, pressure and volume of oxygen supplied to the patient and includes a safety system with sound alarms and an internal auxiliary battery that, in the event of a power failure, gives it an autonomy of at least 36 minutes. The device is monitored and controlled by a PC with Windows operating system supplied and by means of the Open source software -Covid Patient Tracker-. The software has remote connectivity and requires no configuration, allowing immediate use.
Security system with alarms
The software has been designed to guarantee its stable operation over time and incorporates an acoustic alarm system. These alarms are activated both in the event of accidental disconnection and any alternation in the programmed or measured parameters.
Connectivity
The Q-Vent is equipped with Open Source software -Covid Patient Tracker- which allows for the monitoring and control of an unlimited number of respirators in real time from a single PC, thus reducing the time required for medical supervision.
Acknowledgements
The Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies engineering, the Nissan automotive company and Eurecat would like to thank their suppliers and collaborators for all the support received, and make special mention of the support provided by the AEMPS, CatSalut, ACCION and LGAI.
