At the initial global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a period came when ventilators became scarce in the medical sector which made indigenous scientists and companies to improvise inventing ventilators to treat and fight the spread of the virus. BINTA SHAMA reports.
Research and medical reports show that ventilators are vital requirements for the treatment of Coronavirus. However, there was a time in which the ventilators became scarce which made scientists across the nations of the e world to look inward to start something new to save humanity in which Nigerian scientists were not left behind.
Just recently, the indigenous inventors, CEOs of two different private organisations namely, Craftsdesign Nigeria Limited in conjunction with Defense Industries Corporation (DICON), came to the aid of the federal government by designing and inventing ventilators known as ‘DicoVent’ to help support infected persons of the trendy and deadly outbreak of COVID 19 against humanity.
Importance of ventilators
To a layman, the first thing that will come to heart is the meaning and use of a ventilator. According to study, that a ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when disease has caused the lungs to fail, knowing fully well that this particular kind of virus if contacted and gets matured in the system, in these severe cases, the virus causes damage to the lungs, causing the body’s oxygen levels to drop and making it harder to breathe and which the person in question will need a life support in form of a machine which now balls back to the ‘ventilator’. To alleviate this, a ventilator is used to push air, with increased levels of oxygen, into the lungs.
Furthermore, the ventilator now gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover at pace which depends on the health state of the person. The ventilator is said to have been embraced globally as the best hope for saving lives in turn, lowering the infection risks for health care workers and other patients.
About the ventilator (DicoVent)
DicoVent ventilator is one of the first indigenous digital ventilators to grace the Nigerian ventilator market and promises to bring the necessary respite to high ventilator deficit in the country.
DicoVent ventilator was designed and assembled by Crafts Design Nigeria Limited for Defense Industries Corporation (DICON) using 90% locally sourced materials.
Crafts Design specializes in innovative designs, fabrication and manufacturing of anything from bolts and nuts to high premium cars, airplanes, machines, and oil installation parts etc. for clients.
Speaking to the Chief Executive Officer of Craft Design Nigeria Limited and the team lead for the DicoVent project, Egnr. Terfa Addingi said “the company hinges its vision on helping government and businesses to address critical needs by offering innovative product designs. The idea behind DicoVent ventilator is primarily to produce a low cost ventilator to support Nigeria and other countries in the fight against Covid-19, a pandemic that has claimed 259,381 lives and affected 3,753,811 people worldwide as at 12:50 GMT May the 6th, 2020. It is a privilege, to contribute our little quota to fight against Covid-19 while giving made in Nigeria product to Nigerians,” he stressed.
Speaking further, he said that the over demand of ventilators by hospitals around the world have left many countries without this critical medical equipment, raising fear of high death rate from those who require lung support.
Terfa, an indigene of Benue State and also a graduate of Industrial Products Design from Coventry University, United Kingdom thinks that the ventilator would improve world supplies and would also be useful to the healthcare sector post Covid-19 pandemic.
DicoVent the innovator says, “serves the needs of patients who require lung protection; the equipment provides high quality ventilation therapy for patients. Among its important features, it is a user friendly control mode which allows operators without advance training to operate the equipment effortlessly. It is fitted with clear LCD screen which enable users to accurately view and monitor feedback. DicoVent comes with back-up rechargeable battery which can last up to 12hours under normal usage (Ambu Bag allow for energy efficiency), this feature is particularly important for areas with unstable electricity. The mobile app which is also innovative enables DicoVent to be monitored remotely.
“Technically, the DicoVent Ventilator can be used for Continuous Mandatory Ventilation (CMV) which allows breath to be delivered on set variables; additionally the equipment is also suitable for intermittent positive pressure ventilation for patients breathing spontaneously and it can be used for non-invasive and invasive ventilation using mask and endotracheal tube respectively. Apart from in-hospital usage, it can also be fitted to air and land ambulances, it can be used in field hospitals and homes,” he added.
DicoVent to contribute to the battle against Covid-19 globally
For your personal consumption, this isn’t the first time that the Engineer and his team at Crafts Design are putting their expertise in design, fabrication and manufacturing into play especially as it relates to supporting the country in tackling contemporary challenges. Just last year, they raised to the occasion when they were invited to build Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for use by the military in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern region. The vehicles which added to the military capabilities in the fight against Boko Haram and other threats were among those launched by the Nigerian President in December 2019.
Crafts Design Nigeria Limited aims to be what Martin Lockheed is to the American government and the business community. They plan to achieve this by designing and producing critical equipment and also proffer solutions needed by businesses and the defense sector’s local and global clients.
So far, DicoVent ventilator has received many positive feedbacks from many Nigerians since it was launched recently, after passing through basic test. The ventilator performed satisfactorily when simulated under variety of patients with different ventilation needs.
Addingi is very confident that DicoVent would safely contribute in no small measure to the battle against Covid-19 globally.
In view of this, the CEO DICON Mr. Victor Ezugwu, assured that the industry has the capacity to produce thousands of these Personnel Protective Equipment (PPEs) within a short period and at least 100 ventilators in a month.
Ezugwu added that the industry is not entirely profit oriented, hence the essential and life-saving equipment can be acquired at affordable rates. He disclosed the PPE kit costs N8,000 and hand sanitisers go for as low as N400.
He disclosed that DICON will consider exporting the products after adequately satisfying national demand.
On the other hand, the government has assured to support this initiative by acquiring thousands of these ventilators to help ease the pressure on hospitals caused by the coronavirus crisis which Nigerians see as a welcoming idea and a means to boost and encourage indigenous scientists to do more for the nation. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation who heads the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and the Minister of Health recommended DicoVent for use to combat Covid-19 based on experts’ views.
