AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE newly manufactured ventilator machine by the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), students aimed at curbing coronavirus has been one of innovations brought forth by the pandemic.
The two first- year students of the Institute’s Biomedic Electrical Department, namely Mr Innocent Douglas and Mr Aiche Rodgers came up with such an idea whose approval by the Department took very short time, not only because of then pressure to fight the pandemic but also the machines’ importance in the health sector.
Exhibiting the machine on-going 44th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), the students in acknowledgment of the whole team explained that the machine is complete and ready for use, in the sense that it collects the oxygen by using a compressor, taking it (oxygen) in to filter, then in the humid fire (to have the humidity) -standby to be transferred to a patient.
“It is true that our idea was for fighting the Covid-19, but we are also much concerned that the machines are highly demanded in the health sector as we have been observed an increase in number of health centers country-wide in this fifth-phase government,” said Mr Douglas on behalf of the team members.
The machine is accompanied by the small glass-built box where the patient should be put to avoid direct contact with service providers, especially when the patient is suffering from communicable diseases, like coronavirus.
The ventilator has a device which takes the patient’s weight and multiplying 10 times so as to have the exact needed oxygen volume for the patient, said the student, adding that: The machine also has two valves, one for ‘in-oxygen’ and the other for ‘out’. When the ‘in-valve’ is on, the ‘out’ one automatically switches off until the ‘in’ one has finished its work, and the opposite is true.
Pressure sensor is another part of the machine, to determine the patient’s blood pressure status. Once detects abnormalities, the sensor immediately goes for normalization function.
His colleague, Mr Rodgers affirmed that the team was fighting more to make sure the machine is not only portable, but can also function by using any available source of energy in a certain place, specifically in rural areas.
