The COVID-19 crisis brought a shortage of ventilators that can help people battling the lung condition caused by the disease and led to a dire puzzle that leaders in the government and healthcare system are working to solve: how to acquire enough ventilators so that doctors don’t have to face the choice of refusing the machine to someone who needs it.
At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a team of nearly 30 engineers and medical experts came together to create a missing piece that allows hospitals to tap into existing resources: The team is developing a splitter device that could allow a single ventilator to treat multiple patients. Team members said the devices are designed to be 3D printed.
Amid a crisis where the search for materials has led to talk of tapping federal stockpiles and retooling car manufacturing giants, it’s a local-level solution.
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