A Jordanian team revealed a project to manufacture ventilators for critical emergency cases for patients with breathing difficulties. It can also be used by specialized medical staff at both established and field hospitals.
Through Applied Scientific Research Project, King Abdullah II Fund for Development provided the necessary support for the project that is based on building, designing and executing a prototype of a ventilator which is capable of assisting patients with emergent breathing difficulties by providing appropriate air ratios as per the patient’s medical condition.
The project may be promoted after obtaining the necessary medical approvals. A team of Jordanian universities’ professors are working closely on this project: Dr. Yahya Maqableh and Dr. Ahmad Shorman from Jordan University for Science and Technology and Dr. Othman Al Smadi from the Hashemite University.
“The ramifications of COVID- 19 Pandemic which affected the whole world including Jordan especially the health sector, pushed us to think in such a project due to the fear of shortage in ventilators in Jordanian hospitals, the increase of their prices internationally and the difficulty of obtaining them in exceptional circumstances” Dr. Al Shorman Said.
“KAFD had a great role in supporting the idea within the available capabilities by supporting the start of ventilators manufacturing. We seek to have the ventilators built on new characteristics with an artificial intelligence feature in dealing with the patient” he added.
In accordance with the scientific background of the project, ventilators provide patients with breathing difficulties with the necessary air at a specific pressure. However; some cases where pathological conditions require oxygen to enable the patient to inhale and exhales on their own.
In cases where the patient is incapable of inhaling and exhaling on their own, the device will provide the patient with oxygen for inhalation and with air pulling again in exhalation. These vital processes require high accuracy to control incoming and outgoing air pressure from and to the lungs so the device does not cause damage to the lungs which may lead to death.
Applied Scientific Research Project which is executed in partnership with KADDB targets creative researchers and entrepreneurs who have applied scientific researches or who found applied solutions to the problems of their communities. It assists them with the necessary team tools to execute their researches and with networking their thoughts and ideas with the stakeholders in the light of the available capabilities.
This project comes to build on what the Undergraduate Project Funding which was launched by KAFD in 2004 which seeks to support entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. This extension comes to expand the beneficiaries segment by reaching a new segment of researchers.