Media Watch Archives
The High-Stakes Race to Build More Ventilators
Wired -
Along the way, [Kevin] Zagorski and his colleagues took direction from the Bridge Ventilator Consortium, an ad hoc group of doctors and engineers based at UC Irvine and the University of Texas Austin. The consortium coined the term “bridge ventilator,” for a simple device with fewer capabilities than the more complex machines typically used in hospitals, but good enough for many patients with relatively mild issues, including some Covid-19 patients. “Not everyone needs the Cadillac,” says Govind Rajan, an anesthesiologist at the UC Irvine Medical Center. Read More
Virgin Orbit to Make Ventilators for Covid-19 Patients
Los Angeles Business Journal -
Virgin Orbit said it has developed a “bridge ventilator,” a medical device that can be mass produced and is different from the costlier ventilators used in intensive care units. … The company said it has been consulting with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium as it designs the device. Established in early March, the BVC is a group of doctors, engineers and scientists from the University of California Irvine and the University of Texas. Read More
Virgin Galactic’s Satellite Unit Has Made a COVID-19 Ventilator for Non-ICU Use
Observer -
The goal of mass-supplying a simple ventilator is to free up more intensive-care ventilators for severely ill patients. “We face a slow-motion Dunkirk, and getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives,” said Brian J.F. Wong, a professor at UC Irvine and a member of the Bridge Ventilator Consortium. “The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible.” Read More
Ceramic lattices that are stronger than diamond
Chemical & Engineering News -
Now a team reports pushing these lattices to their ultimate limit, generating a ceramic material that’s as strong as theorists believe to be physically possible. The material is stronger than diamond while being up to 70 percent air. … While earlier lattices were made up of cylindrical beams, the new design uses connected ceramic plates. This design makes it 639% stronger and 522% stiffer than the best beam-based lattices. In fact, it boasts the highest strength theoretically possible for any such architected materials, says Jens Bauer, a mechanical and aerospace engineer at the University of California, Irvine. Read More
In the Covid-19 pandemic, ventilators are the ‘deciders between life and death’
The Independent -
At the moment, companies around the world are scrambling to build ventilators quickly, including Virgin Orbit, a firm backed by billionaire Richard Branson which usually manufactures rockets. Virgin Orbit, however, is building a simple version of the machine. “This one is going to basically be for all the patients who need a ventilator but do not need a top-line ventilator. That will free up all these top-line ventilators for the sickest of the sick,” said Dr. Govind Rajan, the director of clinical affairs at the UC Irvine Medical Center. Read More
Virgin Orbit designs new ventilator as part of Virgin Group's efforts to combat coronavirus
Space -
Virgin Orbit worked with physicians and medical-device experts at the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University of Texas at Austin, as part of the Bridge Ventilator Consortium, a group formed recently to quickly find a solution to the shortage of ventilators during the pandemic. … "Getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives," Dr. Brian J.F. Wong, an assistant chairman of otolaryngology (the study of the ears, nose and throat) at UCI who is a part of the Bridge Ventilator Consortium, said in the statement. "The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible." Read More
Virgin Orbit is developing a ventilator to help in the fight against coronavirus
Mirror -
The Virgin Orbit team is consulting with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC), led by the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University of Texas at Austin to develop its bridge ventilator. Dr Brian Wong, from UCI, explained: “We face a slow-motion Dunkirk, and getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives. The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits, and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible.” Read More
Virgin Orbit to build ventilators in Long Beach, aerospace company announces
Orange County Register -
Virgin Orbit has worked with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium to develop a simple “bridge” ventilator that could be used for COVID-19 patients who don’t need intensive care or have partially recovered. … The Bridge Ventilator Consortium is a team of health professionals and researchers trying to solve the national shortage of ventilators; UC Irvine and the University of Texas at Austin have led the effort. “The demand outstrips supply,” Dr. Brian J.F. Wong, assistant chairman of otolaryngology at UCI, said in a statement, “so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
A California rocket-maker will start producing simple ventilators
Quartz -
“This one is going to basically be for all the patients who need a ventilator but do not need a top-line ventilator,” Dr. Govind Rajan, the director of clinical affairs at the UC Irvine Medical Center, says. “That will free up all these top-line ventilators for the sickest of the sick.” … Just over a week ago, he and a team including Brian J.F. Wong, a UCI plastic surgeon who works in medical device development, and Thomas Milner, a University of Texas, Austin, biomedical engineer, kickstarted the the Bridge Ventilator Consortium. Read More
Richard Branson’s Space Company Is Teaming Up with Medical Researchers to Make Ventilators
Robb Report -
“We face a slow-motion Dunkirk, and getting ventilators out there is very important to save lives,” said Dr. Brian J.F. Wong, assistant chairman of otolaryngology at UCI, in a statement. “The demand outstrips supply, so it is important the government, industry, academia, non-profits and the community work together to identify solutions, and design and construct them as fast as possible.” Read More