Wipro 3D, a business of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, in technical collaboration with Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST, Trivandrum, an Institute of National Importance under the Department of Science and Technology, GoI), has launched AirBridge, the Wipro Chitra Emergency Breathing Assist System (EBAS).
Commenting on the launch of the device, Dr V K Saraswat, Hon. President, SCTIMST & Member NITI Aayog, said, “the problem of sudden reduction in oxygen in relatively mild disease and occurrence of deaths during transportation of such patients demanded the development of an emergency breathing assist system. I foresee wide application for this device in the Covid scenario. The ease of operation by trained paramedical staff or health care workers could be a big boon for smaller hospitals for managing patients till they can be shifted to ICU care”
Millions of people worldwide are affected by COVID-19 pandemic. In India, the devastating nature of the illness called for the immediate indigenous development of ventilators. In the scenario of non-availability of adequate numbers of mechanical ventilators, an emergency breathing assist device like the Air Bridge can be used in the short term (hours to a few days) till mechanical ventilation can be provided in an ICU. The battery backed device is operator-friendly and it is also easy to train the operators. It is portable and has low running cost. This automatic device will minimize the need of nursing staff to continuously monitor the device and enables a safe, and effective temporary respiratory support to COVID patients for whom access to mechanical ventilator is not immediately available. It works as a bridge device before mechanical ventilation.
Mr Pratik Kumar, CEO, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, said, “Our Product launches and innovations in Wipro in the last couple of months are focused on fighting the pandemic. Our collaboration with SCTIMST has helped Wipro 3D to fast track the Design & Development. We believe the AirBridge will significantly contribute to the efforts of bringing emergency medical care to the patients.”
The initial knowhow and design of the Emergency Breathing Assist System (EBAS) developed by SCTIMST were transferred to Wipro 3D in April 2020 for further joint development. The device is now ready for commercial production after completing a thorough quality testing.
Mr. Ajay Parikh, Vice President & Business Head, WIPRO 3D, said, “AirBridge can provide ventilator support to both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related emergencies in hospital wards and during transportation of patients in ambulances till conventional mechanical ventilation support is provided in an ICU.”
The device has all the essential features to perform this function and is compliant with national/international standards and guidelines. It is manufactured with components sourced from established supply chains within the country
For clinical application, the device needs to be used along with standard consumables like breathing tubes, PEEP valve and bacterial- viral filters before connecting to the patient.
Prof. Asha Kishore, Director, SCTIMST said, “we took into consideration the potentially fatal respiratory complications of COVID -19 and the shortage of ventilators to meet the unprecedented requirement of ventilators to treat such patients in many cities. A team of engineers from the Department of Medical Devices Engineering and the Department of Anaesthesia of the Institute developed the design and knowhow of the technology. It is not a replacement for a mechanical ventilator, but it does not require an intensive care specialist to operate it and can be a life saving device in both Covid and non-Covid emergencies for providing short term respiratory support “.
