New Delhi (NVI): A Pune-based company is being funded by the Centre to scale up membrane oxygenator equipment (MOE) that it has developed to treat COVID-19 patients, Ministry of Science and Technology said today.
Based on innovative, indigenous hollow-fiber membrane technology, the MOE enriches oxygen in the air up to 35% under pressure (4-7 bar, using oil-free compressor).
With an urgent requirement of respiratory interventions to treat breathlessness, one of the critical symptoms of COVID 19, the equipment can be used to treat patients who have been released from Intensive Care Units (ICU).
The equipment consists of membrane cartridge, oil-free compressor, output flowmeter, humidifier bottle, nasal-cannula, and tubing & fittings.
The compressed, filtered air from the compressor is fed to the membrane cartridge, which selectively permeates oxygen over nitrogen offering oxygen-enriched air as the product at the ambient pressure.
The membrane cartridge capable of distinguishing oxygen and nitrogen restricts the passage of viruses, bacteria, and particulate matter. The product air is of medical grade.
This MOE is being developed by Genrich Membranes, a spin-off company, based on proprietary technology licensed from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.
The device is safe, does not require trained manpower for its operation, needs minimum maintenance, is portable, compact, and with plug-and-play facility provides on-site, quick-start oxygen-enriched air.
“Medical grade oxygen-enriched air is needed in a variety of patient care settings including COVID-19 situations where the global experience in about 14 per cent infections require some kind of respiratory support, but only about 4 per cent need ICU based ventilators. The rest of this population, as well as in many other conditions involving chronic breathing problems, this innovation promises to be of excellent value”, Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST said.
The device can also be helpful for patients suffering with chronic breathing problems like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Asthma, Interstitial lung disease (ILD), pre-term babies, snake bite, and so on.
The Ministry has said that the testing and validation of prototype have been demonstrated in a relevant environment. Genrich, the startup that has been supported by DST, is now is planning to join hands with established medical device companies to mass manufacture MOE which can get this device ready, within three months, it added.
