University of South Florida engineering students have created a device that could help patients in the wake of a national ventilator shortage spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Three students — Abby Blocker, Jacob Yarinsky and Carolyna Yamamoto Alves Pinto — created the patent-pending device as part of their senior design project.
Their device, dubbed the Eucovent, allows two patients to be ventilated by a single machine.
“We believe the Eucovent provides many benefits, including cost and safety,” Pinto said. “Compared to a new ventilator, the device is extremely low-cost, making ventilation more accessible and affordable. It also offers a higher level of patient care compared to existing solutions, making it a safer and more reliable option for co-ventilation.”
The project was done in response to a prompt sent from Moffitt Cancer Center, which asked students to come up with solutions for co-ventilation. The Eucovent stands out among other devices that can split airflow due to its customization, according to officials. The customization can be used for patients who are different weights and have different needs for volume airflow.
"This project shows the opportunity that we have for joint research endeavors between Moffitt Cancer Center and USF,” Heiko Enderling, a researcher in Moffitt’s Integrated Mathematical Oncology unit, said in a statement. “We sincerely hope that these results lay the foundation for a clinical device that can help a lot of patients in different scenarios around the world.”
The trio of USF students have begun spreading the word of their device across the nation. They won the $10,000 first place prize at Jabil's annual Innovation Technology Challenge, which is open to Florida undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students. The team also won a $20,000 first prize in a National Institute of Health pitch competition focused on bioengineering.
"I think what stood out most was how relevant a topic ventilation was at the time, and still is today,” Yarinsky said in a statement. “Especially with what you saw happening around the world with Covid-19 and hospitals not having enough ventilators for the numbers of patients they were treating. The project seemed extremely relevant and meaningful.”
While the Eucovent team awaits patent approval, they will continue to improve its design and expand the project to the incoming USF Capstone class, which can further improve the device.
