Arab News

DUBAI: Researchers at Khalifa University’s Healthcare Engineering Innovation Centre, HEIC, are developing emergency ventilators in response to the coronavirus pandemic, state news agency WAM reported on Monday. 

Researchers at the university developed a working prototype and are now engineering the production plant to produce the ventilators at scale to meet rising local and global demands, WAM reported, citing a press release from the university.

The team is working in response to the global need for increased ventilator manufacturing capacity due to COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, around 80 percent of people with Covid-19 recover without needing hospital treatment, but one person in six becomes seriously ill and can develop pneumonia, which may require ventilator treatment. 

“The number of intensive care beds and mechanical ventilators in hospitals is a fraction of what may be needed in the coming weeks as the situation develops worldwide,” Cesare Stefanini, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of HEIC said.

The professor says that his team aims to develop a working prototype in less than two weeks.