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Defying the limits of what is possible

Youth-led Innovation & Entrepreneurship to combat the pandemic in Argentina and the world.

By Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) en América Latina y el Caribe

February 26^th, 2021

The United Nations Development Programme in Argentina, supported a young company from the city of Rosario, in the Santa Fe province- Inventu Tech- in the development of a local ventilator prototype to assist patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms. This equipment is affordable, accessible, and open source. One breath will be key in treating critical patients given the potential new wave of infections.

In the middle of the pandemic, young professionals developed the first respirator with remote monitoring.

One Breath

In March 2020, members of Inventu Tech, like almost everyone, watched the news in astonishment about was happening in Europe and Asia after the rapid spread of the virus known as COVID-19. What seemed like one more epidemic, soon became the most important pandemic in the last 100 years. At that time, the general concern was the lack of ventilators and medical supplies to face the looming health crisis.

“We are used to receiving supplies in four days. In March, we were waiting for more than 60 days for the acquisition of key health equipment parts and products”, said Simon Carpman, young associate and founder of Inventu.

Considering the unprecedented context, a world defined by strong restrictions and under threat of the collapse of health systems, the Inventu team undertook a search to generate a ventilator prototype. In a scenario with big limitations, and living up to its motto: "Change, Improve, Defy the limits of what has been invented", the company began to investigate and seek financing to give life to One Breath.

One breath is the project through which this Argentine team of entrepreneurs set out to generate a low-cost respirator that can be manufactured and scaled up locally and using open source so its free for others to use around the world. The initiative is led by Inventu in an alliance with the National University of Rosario (UNR). Both entities are responsible for having developed the Covid-19 Emergency Transition Ventilator, designed with national parts, easily available in the domestic market, which later evolved into the first respirator with remote monitoring using a mobile application. The instrument was designed to assist patients who are going through the acute phase of the disease caused by Covid-19.

After successive tests and trials, the ventilator passed the evaluations required by the national authorities

Defying the Limits: How Did It All Start?

The first thing Inventu did was seek financing to develop the first prototypes. A prototype is a minimum viable product. It allows "fail fast and fail cheap" and thus achieve a complete validation of the instrument, refining all the details until the final product is achieved.

"If any of these prototypes worked, we were convinced that we could produce respirators with sanitary grade resources, with all the required specifications but that were abundant in the market," said Simón Carpman.

Among the pioneering financing sources that supported the Project, stands out a Seed Fund of the National University of Rosario (UNR), and later the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which added its support together with other sectors of the State and the private sector.

UNDP provided its support to One Breath within the framework of the national response to the impact of COVID-19 in Argentina. This support is an example of how challenging scenarios can be turned into opportunities for collaboration through innovation and flexible production models. The objective is guided by the need to reorient business models towards sustainability while, at the same time, providing assistance to those who need it most. The financing granted by UNDP, served to carry out all the laboratory tests required for the validation of the final product before the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT).

The validation of a project of these characteristics can take around two years or more. For the development of the first prototype, a very large medical board was needed, composed mainly of intensive care therapists and intensivist physiotherapists. More than 20 highly qualified participants concluded that the device developed by Inventu was ventilating. With that first validation, the company continued working. Then the project went viral and began to generate interest and receive the support of many organizations around the country and the region.

Device complies with international regulations for electro-medical intensive therapy equipment

Change and Improvement: The Validation Process.

The final validation process consisted of six months of tests in ANMAT laboratories with the teams and their “twins”. The devices went through tests of strength of 20 kilos; it also passed electrical safety tests, withstanding the discharge of between 4 thousand and 5 thousand volts in critical places. And finally, it underwent magnetism tests to guarantee its ability to coexist with other instruments in medical environments without irradiating them and validating its magnetic immunity. For the approval of the final product, it was followed, point by point, with the international regulations that regulate all electro-medical equipment for intensive therapy. The reference standard is IEC-60.601 (International Electrotechnical Commission-60.601).

Internet connection allows you to monitor medical variables and upload them to the cloud, website or mobile application.

Responding to the Urgent Needs of the Pandemic

From the first development and the required validations, the company, with the support of strategic partners, was paving the way. Inventu continued to advance in a second model that incorporated all the improvements to make it more efficient and adapted to the needs of users in the health system. Thus, the first ventilator with remote monitoring by APP was achieved. It has a network connection (WIFI and 4G module for remote monitoring of patients), which allows all the monitoring of medical variables to be reported to a cloud, a web page or cell phone application.

The advantages of the new prototype for doctors are enormous: health personnel, who are seriously compromised in the context of overcrowding caused by the health crisis, do not have to approach the patient every time he or she coughs, or experiences a change in pressure, awakes or undergoes transformations in the respiratory sequence. The alarms of the patient-ventilator circuit provide remarkable ease and efficiency in the treatment of each patient since remote monitoring helps avoid the work overload of health personnel. With highly contagious diseases, such as COVID-19, every time the doctor or nurse has to visit a patient, they have to go through a series of strict protocols, use biosafety coveralls, double chinstraps, mask and glasses, which takes vital time away from other patients.

One of the greatest challenges brought on by the pandemic is the lack of medical personnel trained in intensive care, and therefore, another of the critical contributions brought by the second prototype is its automation thanks to which, not only fewer doctors are able to assist more patients, but less experienced intensive care physicians, can remotely counsel with more trained staff, receiving critical assistance to sustain care.

Having medical personnel trained in intensive care remains a challenge with which this device intends to collaborate

Simón highlights that, in turn, through automation and virtual data loading, more remote locations can give reports to remote personnel to monitor the patient's condition with all the variables displayed at a historical level: volume breathed, peak pressures , evolution, among other relevant medical aspects for comprehensive care. This is how, based on open dialogues with the health sector, the last prototype underwent certain adjustments oriented to the needs and challenges faced by health personnel in Argentina.

“We worked on what the doctors asked for. A team adapted to their needs ”, concluded Simón.

The automation and virtual loading of data, facilitates the control of variables and remote monitoring of patients.

Scaling up

Since the first prototype was created, until today, Inventu has assisted several Argentine provinces to acquire or develop their respirators. These were successfully manufactured locally by the Universidad del Nordeste, in the Province of Corrientes, where 100 machines have already been assembled and used to cover the demand gap that the health system could face during a peak of infections in the framework of the pandemic. Respirators were also distributed in the provinces of Santa Cruz and Jujuy. Faced with the collapse in the health systems of some provincial capitals due to growing demand, localities in the interior of these provinces have been forced to set up intensive care centers. In Jujuy, for example, Inventu respirators "have been used in tents," said Simón. In addition to Corrientes, in Humahuaca, Tilcara, Maimará, in Ledesma and in San Salvador de Jujuy there are also teams working.

The next step is to quickly start the production process based on the existing industrial capacity, in partnership with the private sector and based on the needs identified from the health sector. Nowadays, Inventu holds meetings with the Secretary of Production of the Nation and works nationwide to supply equipment. In addition, the company is in talks with other provinces of the country such as La Rioja and with other countries in the region and the world. In Peru, three of its teams are being validated by the Ministry of Health and in Chile, the development and validation of a prototype of the company is also progressing. Simón told us, with great enthusiasm, that they will probably send the equipment to Spain to validate them under the C seal of the European Community.

One Breath is free to manufacture and its blueprints, manuals, circuits and documents are available for download.

The One Breath (Un respiro) project is non-profit and the company assures that as long as the pandemic continues, it will continue to be. It is a free manufacturing project and with this objective, the plans, manuals, circuits and documents are available on the website for free download. There are also virtual trainings on ventilator use in the acute phase of respiratory failure usually caused by Covid-19. These courses are taught by professional kinesiologist intensivists.

As part of its mission, in support of the State, the private sector and civil society in strengthening existing strategies and implementing new instruments to contain the pandemic and respond to impacts in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Program of the United Nations for Development in Argentina, became a strategic partner of this initiative. "This experience is a clear demonstration that betting on innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit of young professionals can be a powerful combination and a driving force to respond to crises and contribute to a long-term sustainable recovery," said María Eugenia Oviedo, the UNDP associate that coordinates the Inventu support project.

The inexpensive ventilator is being used in several provinces and also in the region.

Footnotes

Text: UNDP Argentina; Photos: INVENTU

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FootNotes

Text: UNDP Argentina; Photos: INVENTU

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