So the use-case here is people putting their loved ones on these ventilators at home because the hospitals are full (which is entirely possible).
Ideally, we should be working with existing ventilator manufacturers in the US to have them increase their current output.
2. Ventilators aren’t dumb iron lung machines. Current ventilators are large, complex and very much specialized machines which require special training to operate.
Once you get to the point you need a ventilator the ventilator is the least of your problems.
But really, I think this "home care in case the hospitals are full" thing is a pipe dream. A uniquely American pipe dream. For one thing, how are you going to hydrate and feed your loved one while they're on your homemade ventilator? Do you know how to insert an IV? Do you have saline solution on-hand? Ventilated patients in the hospital are being sedated, to my understanding. Do you have an anesthetist on hand to manage that? Etc. The American impulse to independence and prepping is so silly sometimes.
The only practical use for these ventilators is in a hospital context, employed by real doctors and nurses. And then only if the number of available ventilators ends up being the bottleneck (as opposed to the amount of healthcare worker labor available or some other factor). Any other imagined use is just a safety blanket, IMO.
As a former respiratory therapist I understand you concern about a project like this. I doubt anything beyond a CPAP machine is helpful for home care without risking a ventilator lung injury which is often characterized as the same lung pathology that COVID-19 creates in the acute respiratory cases.
That said, at home you could help at home patients relieve some symptoms until proper medical attention is available by doing positive breath holding exercises and chest percussion therapy to recruit more alveolar activity.
Paging Dr. Scott Weingart
https://emcrit.org/emcrit/some-additional-covid-airway-manag...