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iSAVE: A Patient-Specific Ventilation Expansion System
The Individualized System for Augmenting Ventilator Efficacy (iSAVE) repurposes existing medical flow valves to allow a single ventilator to provide personalized support to at least two patients. iSAVE enables independent control of volume and pressure for each patient and incorporates safety measures to accommodate sudden patient deterioration and cross contamination.
Jumping Into Action
COVID-19 is overwhelming healthcare systems worldwide and a majority lack the capacity to keep up with the global shortage of ventilators. In response, countries have created ventilator production and procurement programs, which has challenged already strained global supply chains. Low-cost and split ventilators have not been optimized or tested/validated under conditions of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a significant and life-threatening complication of COVID-19. A team of engineers and clinicians from MIT, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Philips recently developed the Individualized System for Augmenting Ventilator Efficacy (iSAVE). This device allows for a safe use of a single ventilator to simultaneously support multiple patients. The system has been validated in animal models and multiple ICU ventilators. The iSAVE could potentially expand the ventilation capacity of hospitals using existing ventilators, minimizing the need to procure additional ventilators for emergency situations during and after COVID. Project Prana seeks to take the iSAVE where it’s needed most around the world.
iSAVE Features:
Patient-Specific Volume and Pressure Control
Alarms and Measures to Mitigate Cross-Contamination Between Patients
Rigorously Tested
Assembly Time of Less Than 10 Minutes
Accomodates Changes due to Sudden Patient Improvement or Deterioration
Low Cost and Easy to Use
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Expanding Ventilator Capacity Globally
Many countries globally suffer from ventilator shortages, even in the absence of healthcare crises. We are partnering with organizations, healthcare institutions, and startups worldwide to extend technology and education to better bolster capacity and emergency preparedness.
Reach out to us if you would like to discuss a partnership.
Ongoing Collaborations
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iSAVE on the Indventr Ventilator
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Meet the Team
Shriya Srinvasan, PhD
MIT Postdoctoral Researcher
Srin Sridharan, BA
Managing Partner - Thought,
Robert Langer, ScDInstitute Professor
Chemical Engineering, MIT
Khalil Ramadi, PhD
MIT Postdoctoral Researcher
Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, PhDAssistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, MIT & Associate Physician, Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Press
Prana Foundation and Indventr Consortium Announces Partnership to Enable a Range of Affordable Ventilator Solutions during the Pandemic - 9/14/20 - Press Release
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it FDA approved?
Project Prana has applied for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for iSAVE. Emergency use authorization can offer critical care patients access to a medical device that has not gone through normal FDA approval; this is used when no comparable or satisfactory alternative options are available.
What Testing has been done? What are the results?
The iSAVE has been validated using benchtop tests on commonly-used models of ICU ventilators (Hamilton, Puritan Bennet) as well as in vivo studies, ventilating two pigs on the same ventilator using the iSAVE. These demonstrated the ability for independent volume control, ability to compensate for changes in one subject’s status, and successful activation of alarm mechanisms. The full results were published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, which can be found here.