COVID-19: BUK Produces Ventilator

Determined to use it’s intellectual resources to fight COVID-19 the management of Bayero University Kano constituted BUK Emergebcy Ventilator Team which on Friday displayed a prototype ventilator machine produced by the University.

The locally produced ventilator has  the capacity of operating in two modes.

According to the chairman of BUK Emergency Ventilator Team, Prof. Ibrahim Abdullahi of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said the idea behind the production was for the University to contribute its quota in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that, “due to the present COVID-19 pandemic, the University saw the need to contribute to the fight against the deadly pandemic. We came up with this idea.

“The ventilator operates in two modes. In mode one, the ventilator breezes for the patients. In mode two, the ventilator complements the breezing for the patients.”

He added that the ventilator also has a controller that controls the breezing according to the patient’s requirement.

“It has ranges for the clinician to tune a particular breezing frequency to support the life of the patient,” he added.

Prof. Abdullahi further stated that, “We produced one unit of the ventilator at the cost of N500, 000. We used locally available material and locally available technology.”

He said BUK is making plans for mass and commercial production of the ventilator, adding that, “in the next step, we will produce and test for animals. What we have now is the prototype.

“We are making plans to engage companies so that we can go into mass production. For now, as a university, we produce in batches. We shall soon partner with companies for commercial production.”