Amid the global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals and healthcare facilities are reporting shortages of vital equipment that not only keeps the patients safe, but the staffers, too. One important device for which demand has ramped up is ventilators for patients who need assistance with their breathing due to the respiratory effects of […]
Respiratory
EU science chief resigns over government response to coronavirus
Disappointed in the European Union’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the head of its top science organization has resigned. Mauro Ferrari was president of the European Research Council (ERC) since Jan. 1. His resignation was effective immediately, according to the council. Ferrari claimed he had run into institutional and political roadblocks when he tried to […]
Xerox partners with Vortran to make portable ventilators
Xerox (NYSE:XRX) and Vortran Medical Technology announced that they are collaborating to speed and scale production of Vortran’s GO2Vent ventilator and related APM-Plus airway pressure monitor in the fight against COVID-19. Both companies plan to rapidly scale up production from approximately 40,000 ventilators in April to between 150,000 and 200,000 ventilators per month by June […]
Mullen Technologies starts manufacturing portable ventilatlors
Electric car maker Mullen Technologies announced today that it starting to manufacture portable ventilators out of its facility in Monrovia, Calif. Brea, Calif.-based Mullen Technologies is using the Monrovia high-voltage battery R&D center to manufacture its Mullen 8 ventilator system in response to the shortage of equipment faced by hospitals around the world during the […]
DeviceTalks Weekly: Ep.4 — What does Medtronic’s Puritan reveal mean for medtech?
What does Medtronic’s Puritan reveal mean for medtech? Medtronic earned plaudits and praise for sharing the design specifications for its Puritan Bennett 560 (PB560) ventilators. But will the gesture actually lead to more ventilators being manufactured? In this episode of DeviceTalks Weekly, we’ll talk with experts who will tell us what the plans do and […]
Foxconn to produce Medtronic ventilators in new Wisconsin plant
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) CEO Omar Ishrak said yesterday that the medtech giant is partnering with Foxconn Technology Group to manufacture ventilators at Taiwan-based Foxconn’s plant in Wisconsin to treat the sickest COVID-19 patients. In an interview with CNBC, Ishrak said he didn’t know how many ventilators the deal will produce, but said production will begin in the […]
3M agrees with Trump to import an additional 166.5m respirators into U.S.
President Donald Trump and 3M (NYSE:MMM) today agreed that the manufacturing conglomerate will import an additional 166.5 million respirators from its China plant over the next three months. The imports will come on top of the 35 million N95 respirators per month that 3M is presently manufacturing in the United States. The deal — which Trump […]
Hospital survey reveals front-line needs, desperate measures
Hospitals across the U.S. have begun resorting to unorthodox means of replacing or sanitizing personal protective equipment (PPE) and atypical sourcing of PPE and other supplies needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government survey. The Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted the random survey of 323 hospitals […]
Aptar applies for EUA for N95 decontamination process
Aptar announced that it is seeking FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for its N95 mask decontamination process with ActivShield. The N95 masks (produced by Honeywell (NYSE:HON) and 3M (NYSE:MMM)) are in short supply and high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. To disinfect the masks, a small strip of Aptar’s ActivShield is placed alongside an N95 mask inside a […]
Nortech, Minnetronix may start building ventilators
Two Minnesota medtech contract manufacturers are taking a hard look at producing ventilators, including one from the plans that Medtronic made public last week to address the coronavirus outbreak. Maple Grove-based Nortech Systems (NSDQ:NSYS) told Medical Design & Outsourcing it is seriously considering starting to produce the machines based on the design specifications of Medtronic’s Puritan Bennett 560 (PB 560) […]
Materialise touts 3D printed oxygen mask that could free up ventilators
Materialise announced today that it developed a 3D printed device to convert standard hospital equipment into a mask to facilitate breathing for patients by creating positive pressure in the lungs.The Leuven, Belgium-based company’s Materialise NIP Connector is designed to give clinicians the ability to reduce the time that patients need access to ventilators, relieving the strain […]