The mechanical ventilator is the most crucial medical device in use today. It is a vital component of Intensive Care Units (ICU) for medical emergencies. It also provides respiratory support for chronic respiratory illnesses like COPD and asthma, which kill 5,000 people every day in India alone, and 20,000 people per day worldwide.
Conventional ventilators are expensive and in acute shortage worldwide. They also result in grave complications like lung damage, pneumonia and organ failure, which can also lead to death. Studies show that 50% patients on conventional ventilators die or are injured for life due to ventilator complications. It is a medical emergency on a global scale.
For the first time we have a solution. The world's only safe and low-cost ventilator. It covers 9 patent applications and has been incubated by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay SINE incubator. Making this crucial life-saving device available in every part of the country and the world, at the earliest, is of utmost urgency.
Supervasi is a purely non-profit venture dedicated to saving lives. Join in and do your bit. It could help save the life of your loved one. Please donate your time, talent, resources generously for expediting the launch of this much-needed life-saving device.
Ventilators are the most vital component of the modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU). They provide respiratory support for a range of medical emergencies like heart attacks, stroke, poisoning, head injury, burns, dengue. They are also used for respiratory illnesses like COPD and asthma, in ICUs and at home.
However conventional ventilators are very expensive (Rs. 20-25 lakhs for an ICU ventilator) and are thus in acute shortage, even in large cities like Mumbai. None are available in the rural areas. (A1-12).
Based on hospital bed-to-ventilator statistics, India is short of one million ventilators at the barest minimum. (A11). Even this figure is misleadingly low because India is severely short of hospital beds in the first place.
22 million Indians suffer from COPD (65 million worldwide) while 33 million Indians suffer from asthma (300 million worldwide). Whereas only about 1.7 lakh home use ventilators are sold every year worldwide (B1-4).
Further, due to their invasive and unnatural respiratory methods, conventional ventilators can result in a wide range of complications and even death.
Ventilators cause lung injury to 1 of 2 patients, and death to 1 of 3 patients using it.
All major ventilators use the forced-air ventilation principle, whereby high-pressure (+20 cmH2O) air is pumped into the lungs via an esophageal tube or mask to forcibly control the patient's breathing.
This is unnatural and harmful for the lungs, which are designed to take in air at a gentle pressure (-5 cmH2O) created when the abdomen expands and creates a vacuum in the chest cavity.
Studies show that conventional forced-air ventilators cause serious and irreversible lung injury to 1 of 2 patients, and death due to organ failure to 1 of 3 patients using it (C1).
The world's only safe and low-cost ventilator.
SVELTE (Super Ventilating Low-Power Therapeutic Exoskeleton) is a non-invasive one-piece device that fits externally on the abdomen or chest like a belt.
It is 4% the price of modern forced-air ventilators. Just Rs. 1 lakh instead of Rs. 20-25 lakhs. We plan to reduce the price to Rs. 25,000 in the future.
SVELTE makes it possible to provide safe and affordable ventilator treatment in every part of the country, including the poorest and remotest areas. It not only saves lives during medical emergencies but also improves the quality of life of millions suffering from chronic respiratory problems.
A versatile device that can be safely used for medical emergencies, respiratory illnesses and lifestyle disorders. It can also be used healthy individuals to enhance their overall health and well-being through improved breathing (like Pranayama).
| Users | Indications | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Acute medical emergencies | ARDS, ARF, IRDS, Snakebite, Poisoning, Head Injury, Burns, Cardiovascular Illness, etc. | In ICU, PICU, NICU, Ambulance. Generally for 3-7 days. |
| Chronic respiratory illness | COPD (Bronchitis, Emphysema), Asthma | For daily use. During acute exacerbation. For strenghtening respiratory muscles. |
| Lifestyle Disorders, Healthy adults | Stress, Diabetes, Hypertension, Anxiety, Fatigue | For Breath Training. i.e. Slow, deep, abdominal breathing. Similar to doing Pranayama (Yoga). |
Due to its non-invasive nature there are very few cases where the SVELTE it is not suitable, and most of these can be easily accomodated in an safe and simple manner.
| Use Case | Precautions |
|---|---|
| Pregnant Women | Use a chest piece instead of abdomen piece. |
| Rib Fracture | Use abdominal piece instead of chest piece |
| Thoracic/Abdominal Surgery, Gastro-Intestinal Bleeding | Use the device in a positive-pressure mode. |
| Upper Airway Collapse | Use with Naso-Pharyngeal/Oro-Pharyngeal tube, Laryngeal Mask Airway, CPAP machine or nasal stent |
| Esophageal Reflux | Can use if metoclopramide is administered |
SVELTE is based on well-established medical principles of “negative pressure ventilation”. Its genius lies in its revolutionary engineering innovations, which for the first time allow ventilation that is instantly responsive, low-cost, low-power, light-weight, portable. It spans 4 patent applications, and is also being incubated by IIT Bombay’s SINE incubator.
Despite its cutting-edge engineering SVELTE is amazingly affordable. It costs hardly 5% of a conventional ventilator. Rs. 1 lakh instead of Rs. 20-25 lakhs.
It thus makes it possible for every hospital, Primary Health Center and village to be equipped with sufficient ventilators to cater to any medical emergency.
It also makes it affordable to the millions suffering from COPD and asthma worldwide, to live an active, mobile and productive life.
SVELTE is currently being certified for the following medical standards:
| Certification | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ISO13485 | Worldwide | Manufacturing facility for medical devices |
| CE | Europe | Medical devices sold, distributed or used in Europe |
| FDA | US | Medical devices sold, distributed or used in US |
After developing and testing several different versions, we are now finalising the production prototype and processes.
The certification process for CE and FDA has already been initiated. Extensive clinical studies will be conducted in India and other countries, to establish SVELTE's efficacy in a wide range of indications.
Full-blow production will commence in 2018. We are also open to licensing the SVELTE and its associated technologies to other ventilator manufactures, to help them switch to the next generation of safe and natural breathing ventilators, and ensure that this crucial life-saving device is delivered worldwide as fast as possible.
Everyone needs to be a part of this global emergency project, especially those who have the ability to make a difference.
250 mm in inches= [9.8425 inches, 25 cm]
There is an ever-rising need for ventilators worldwide. Respiratory illness is the 2nd largest killer globally. However modern ventilators are too expensive and their production capacity is unable to meet the growing demand.
Even in wealthy first world countries likes the United States, Public Health authorities have developed plans on how to allocate the limited ventilators in case of major pandemics like flu (E1-3). Several papers have been published to evaluate the most ethical ways of deciding who should get ventilator treatment and who should be allowed to die due to lack of ventilators (E4-6).
Further, even the conventional forced-air ventilators that are available cause serious injury and causing complications in 1 of 2 and deaths of 1 of 3 patients using them (C1-8).
We are accustomed to thinking of "emergencies" as short-term, acute occurances. However silent long-term, chronic emergencies like this one are far deadlier.
For the first time, Supervasi has found a viable and effective solution. An ultra-low cost and safe ventilator that can be supplied and stocked in abundance, to ensure that no lives are lost to respiratory diseases, even in the remotest and poorest areas.
Reaching this life-saving non-profit solution to the masses, at the earliest, is thus a matter of the utmost urgency and priority for every person. The life of someone you love could depend on it.
US President Donald Trump declared the Opiod Crisis to be a "national emergency". The expected outcome of this declaration is increased funding to cope with the crisis, easing of regulatory compliances and reallocation of medical personnel and resources (D1-3). Opiod poisoning kills 142 people per day in the US (D1).
— CNN, August 15, 2017
Respiratory problems kill 5,000 people per day in India (B5) and 20,000 worldwide. There is just no comparison.
Most of us have had a family member or friend in the ICU, or suffering from asthma or COPD.
SVELTE could make the critical difference of saving their life, or gifting them a mobile, active and productive life.
This project touches everyone's lives. Join in and do you bit to help us reach it to you in the fastest possible time.
| Area | Details |
|---|---|
| Funds |
Rs. 3 crores is required to complete certifications, clinical studies, and first 3 months of production. Thereafter the project can be self-sufficient. Further funds would help us scale up much faster, to save thousands of more lives. |
| Expertise | We require experts in FEA, multi-physics, simulation software like COMSOL and Ansys. |
| Development | Liaison with pro-active, research-oriented hospitals in India and other countries. |
| Sales | Promotion of SVELTE with Government and Private Hosptials in India and other countries. |
