The new ventilator is designed to help Lebanese hospitals treat Covid-19 patients and reduce the amount of virus released into the air
The pandemic is still going on and the search is not stopping. A new invention comes from Lebanon and bears the signature of Ali Faraj, a member of the Lebanese Innovators Society. The new respirator was presented during E-nnovate 2020 and won a bronze medal. The device helps more sick people to breathe at the same time and purifies the air thanks to carbon and chloride filters. In addition, a heating system manages the humidity in the recycled air. The respirator is managed thanks to an Arduino software that allows to control also the patient’s vital parameters. The Faraj Complex Ventilator is cheap and easy to produce, with an estimate of 50 pieces produced per day in case of need.
The respirator is still a prototype but its features promise a great step forward for the development of increasingly effective and economical technologies. To fully understand the full potential of the Faraj Complex Ventilator we interviewed its inventor, Ali Faraj.
Welcome Ali , tell us the reasons that led you to the creation of the Faraj Complex Ventilator Project.
“With the spread of the new Corona virus, we started to hear many different terms, the most important of which is the ventilator, what do we mean by it and what is its role in fighting the virus? Infection with the new corona virus (COVID-19) causes inflammation in the respiratory system, as the virus enters the airways, which may result in difficulty and shortness of breath. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, one in four people infected with the new coronavirus may need a ventilator to help them breathe. Unfortunately, with the increase in the number of cases of coronavirus around the world, some medical centers are beginning to suffer from a shortage of ventilators, which puts doctors, nurses and patients in a critical problem. As a team of specialists and engineers ,at that moment we lacked the necessary experience. In order to know the respiratory system, the way it works, its importance and its specifications, and at the instigation of the management of the work team, we began carrying out research and studies in general knowledge of the idea and then expanded by entering the details up to completion and implementation. The goal was to reach a design that is quick to implement and takes into account the required conditions and includes all the features required globally. Indeed, we began to search and see the designs executed by creators in the countries and conducted several models studies, and the team was able to obtain complete maps of the barley breathing apparatus produced by Medtronic International and also the maps of the famous Apollo respirator were obtained and studies on these models began to reach the design”.
How does your invention improve existing technologies?
“For any emergency, the goal was to reach a state of complete readiness to act, to provide the necessary support to all when needed, and to put their maximum potential for rapid completion. Taking into account the development chain later, by setting points, goals and priorities for its achievement and progress towards the next steps. Here was the challenge and the achievement was our ally’s success. The most important achievement is the feature that we developed, which is the destruction of the virus returning from the patient’s body to limit its spread in the atmosphere of the room in which it is being treated, a feature that is not found in all respirators. With the beginning of the Corona crisis and the emergence of the urgent need for respiratory devices, and with the limited availability in Lebanese hospitals, we would not fail to fulfill our duty towards the homeland and citizens, and we will not stand idly by and we see the urgent need for this system, and in the end we will not be able to see the suffering of the patients, then serious work, research and studies have begun to enter this field. The luck was an ally of the working team and began developing preliminary designs, implementation and amendment, up to the system that we present to you today, which is a prototype of a series of models that we will modify and implement later on and named it Faraj Complex Version 1. As for the models that we will release later, there is a remarkable technological development in terms of reports and complex operations, but in this model we were able to perform the main tasks required and later we develop. The key innovative features of the invention to solve the problem are the charcoal filter and chlorine filter, the heating technology used for air and humidity, the compressor concept used instead of ambo bag part, using PLC and Arduino technologies to develop system features“.
Has the idea already been patented or do you plan to?
“We already registered it and waiting for patent“.
What will be the next step? How do you plan to implement your invention or its diffusion?
“The project is part of a series of researches, experiments and studies and will undergo several stages of development as planned and subsequent copies will depend on the Arduino technology to obtain results and reports needed by the nurse and doctors. Among all, heat and blood pressure and measuring the percentage of oxygen and carbon and heart rate. Moreover a remote control will be developed and will be added assistive techniques to improve his performance. Its size will be reduced to make it easier to transport, taking into account the weight according to the conditions. An external cover for it will be designed to make it in the form of a rather small medical portfolio, and the system will be provided with a screen and keyboard to obtain an easy-to-use user interface and immediately display the medical results of the disease. The system was put on trial as soon as it successfully completed the tests, but thanks to the Lebanese Ministry of Health’s control of the epidemic and its non-proliferation, it did not get a real opportunity for actual experience on patients, and the technical treatment situation remained inside the development center“.