After global medical device company Medtronic released their design specifications for ventilators - for free - last week, a move made to encourage local manufacturers to create their own iterations amidst the ongoing pandemic, a number of entities which have the necessary capabilities have begun using the design as a springboard to contribute to creating much-needed ventilators.

One such organisation is the British University in Egypt’s, which announced that their Nanotechnology Centre will participate in a new local initiative called ‘Breathe’ to help produce 5,000 ventilators.

The ‘Breathe’ initiative is spearheaded by Egyptian-state run Holding Company for Metallurgical Industries, which recently announced that it would be starting the first stage of production for ventilators, which includes a prototype. BUE quickly joined the initiative and will be doing their part in helping create thousands of ventilators. Although Medtronic’s PB560 ventilator model was the instigator of the project, the initiative is now exploring two other models.

The holding company, which is made up of 15 firms, is expected to start mass manufacturing of the ventilator prototypes within 14 days.