STORIES
03-04-2020 by Freddie del Curatolo
A wiper motor, a relay, two switches, a piston, an elbow pipe, a bulb, a vacuum cleaner bag, a tank and a car battery.
So two Kenyans from Thika, a town not far from Kenya's capital Nairobi, created a lung ventilator for the Coronavirus emergency.
Paul Kariuki and Samuel Kairu, these are the names of two shopkeepers, certainly not scientists or engineers, took four days to create something that could be a vital resource for a country struggling with the exponential growth of cases of Covid-19 positivity and the difficulty of finding on the world market respirators of all kinds.
The two Kenyans assembled the ventilator after collecting 98,000 shillings (less than 1000 euros) and saving 12,000 to test the prototype. After the green light, they will be able to raise more funds to start 3D printing to produce more specimens.
Of course, bureaucracy and science will be able to extend the time by having to establish the goodness of practical application on patients suffering from respiratory syndromes, but a good step has been taken by these enterprising young people.
Paul, who ran a DVD sales and rental shop that recently closed due to the pandemic, asked his friend Samuel for the ticket money to join him in the town of Ruiru and start making the prototype. The innovation is perfectly suited to be used throughout the country because it does not require electricity and is based on a battery for power supply.
A ventilator is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving air in and out of the lungs so that a patient who is physically unable to breathe independently can breathe.
In a video posted on Facebook, Kariuki explains how the ventilator works:
"The switch powers the wiper motor, as you can see there's a piston going down and pressing the bag. Then there is the inner bulb that illuminates the bag - explains the inventor - The motor can be adjusted and the speed can be increased as needed. You can also put a timer or an intermittent that can regulate the oxygen supply. We are trying to imitate breathing, we have not yet obtained a doctor's approval and are happy to have it inspected.
Paul told the media that it was the lack of fans that prompted them to propose innovation: "In the fight against Covid-19, we have to be inventive because the world is currently facing a shortage of fans," he said, "before we are overwhelmed by the virus, we have to make fans, so this is the first locally assembled fan.
Now we need to figure out how long it will take the two of them to see their invention approved. A thorough test could take months to pass. But at least locally, you could speed things up and make a few exceptions by testing it "in the field".
NEWS
by redazione
Finally Kilifi County has a modern healthcare facility dedicated to the Coronavirus pandemic...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
For the first time in more than two months, since the Government representatives gave the daily bulletins...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
On the day the number of infected people in Kenya continues to rise (473 new cases, another ...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
Sixteen new cases and one dead in the last 24 hours, with 1115 swabs carried out across the ...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
And the day came when Malindi recorded the first case of Covid-19.
The...
NEWS
by redazione
There will be no mandatory quarantine for foreign tourists who, as of August 1, 2020, will...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
The first day of September opens with no deaths of Covid-19 in Kenya, while the...
NEWS
by redazione
Kenya exceeds 5000 cases of Covid-19 after the bulletin of Wednesday 24 June confirmed that...
PLACES
by redazione
At the Olimpia Club of Malindi the news is only on the agenda and not only the gastronomic ones. The
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
As in Italy, with the relative and clear differences, also in Kenya yesterday there was a...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
In Kilifi County and Malindi the Covid-19 is starting to be a serious problem.
Surely this ...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
Many more healed than new positives and only 2 dead. So Kenya looks at its curve hoping that it...
CORONAVIRUS
by redazione
The number of deaths in Kenya has risen to 682 after 13 patients admitted to health...