MakAir, un ventilateur né de la pandémie COVID-19 conçu grâce à l’impression 3D, le numérique et l’openinnovation

The recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for mass production of ventilators for patients with severe respiratory failure. MakAir is a mechanical ventilator designed using 3D printing and open-source software and hardware. Easy to mass-produce, it is intended for use in COVID-19 like pandemics. To facilitate its production in times of crisis, the minimal version of the class IIb medical device MakAir, works only in controlled pressure with a turbine allowing it to be air autonomous. An external source of oxygen allows the insufflation of a mixture of up to 0.8 O(2) as a fraction of inspired air. The MakAir has undergone a complete pre-clinical evaluation on a test bench. The MakAir provides ventilation assistance as directed in simulated cases of acute respiratory failure linked in various resistance scenarios. Translated into a motive pressure of 10–15 cmH(2)O, the driving pressure ventilation provides a good approximation of tidal volume. In the same way, the control of the oxygen supply by a flowmeter makes it possible to estimate the FiO(2) in the different scenarios tested. The technical performance of the MakAir crisis ventilator is in accordance with the requirements applied to devices intended for commercial use. If the provision of sufficient equipment can only relieve over-stressed teams in times of crisis, the MakAir can be an interesting alternative for low- and middle-income countries. The open-source features of MakAir also make it possible to improve, develop, and test several technological and/or algorithmic improvements, or even to produce a local version.