A Colombian team is set to test a ventilator powered by a low-cost Raspberry Pi computer board designed and coded in March by a man in California, the United States of America. The creator, Marco Mascorro, is a robotics engineer with no prior experience at creating medical equipment though he stated that he designed the device because he knew such machines are in high demand to treat patients with the Covid-19 coronavirus. The codes are made open-source, so that anyone can use or modified without charge.
The ventilator is designed to use only easy-to-find parts such as items from car and plumbing supply stores. The Raspberry Pi devices sets air pressure, opens and closes valves, and determines whether the patient needs full or partial ventilation assistance.
The machines will be put through a fast-tracked round of tests at the University Hospital of the Pontifical Xavierian University and the Los Andes University of Bogota. They will run non-stop for 5 days ventilating sets of artificial lungs. If successful, the machine will then undergo animal tests. The Colombian team stated that they hope human trials could begin as early as May 2020 while mass production could start a month or two afterwards. While the idea has been praised by some medical teams, others are skeptical that the machines will be up for the task. Some state that although the machines may not be fully ready for Covid-19, it could help in the future or be developed to suit nations or communities lacking the latest technology.
