David Camarillo: Building rapid-response ventilators

David Camarillo, PhD, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford, has currently put aside his research effort on preventing concussions and has now taken on a new project: building ventilators, with the support of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

Camarillo and colleagues are designing and building a prototype of a simplified ventilator (a pared-down machine that pulls in a specific, measured amount of air out of the lungs, and pushes new air back in). The team is working on extensively testing them in a mechanical lung (part of a necessary protocol, per the Food and Drug Administration, before use in humans).  Following testing, the team plans to file for emergency-use authorization from the FDA, which they hope will allow for rapid deployment of the devices.

“What we’re creating is for times when resources are scarce — a lifeline to hospitals that’ve run out of the resources they need to care for patients critically ill with COVID-19,” he said.

Read the full article "Stanford researchers lead effort to build rapid-response ventilators" in Stanford Medicine news.