The Corevent 2020: An Open-source, Rapid Design-build-Test Emergency Ventilator Developed for Covid-19

Abstract

In the first quarter of 2020, SARs-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections began to grow at an alarming rate despite drastic measures to reduce infection rates. Severe COVID-19 cases required mechanical ventilation, resulting in ventilator shortages worldwide. To address the ventilator shortages, the authors developed the CoreVent 2020, an emergency-use ventilator for adult patients that was designed, built, and tested in ten days. The CoreVent 2020 is a pressure-cycled, time-limited ventilator with a breath-assist mode that operates on standard pressurized oxygen and medical air. It provides adjustable peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). A medical-grade commercially available breathing circuit is used to minimize non-medical component requirements. The CoreVent 2020 was fabricated in-house at Stony Brook University Hospital and tested on three mechanical lung simulators in which the operating modes and alarm features were demonstrated. Animal studies were also performed in both normal breathing mode and breath-assisted modes. Arterial blood gas measurements confirmed that the ventilator provided satisfactory ventilation for the test subjects. The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique constraints on the design and innovation process not normally encountered in typical practice. Design decisions such as component choice, delivery time, and ease of high-volume, rapid manufacturing influenced all aspects of the design process. This aspect of the design/innovation process is also discussed, as well as an introductory discussion on how training and simulations can be developed so that innovation can occur efficiently in future crises situations.