With the severity of the global scenario in the midst of the new coronavirus pandemic, Questtonó joined a group focused on the challenge of building a solution for the front line in the fight against the disease: To redefine, in a safe, scalable and record time manner, the pulmonary ventilator, essential equipment in the treatment of patients with respiratory complications due to Covid-19.

It is estimated that 30% of infected people hospitalized due to the disease need a lung ventilator for treatment. But, in a context of exploding cases around the world, there was a lack of sufficient equipment to meet this demand.

Called VentFlow, our equipment was designed in 35 days, based on the WHO (World Health Organization) principle of the “4As”, which advocates the development of available, accessible, appropriate and low-cost medical equipment. According to the organization, from data collected from 33 hospitals in 10 developing countries, it was possible to conclude that about 70% of the most complex devices do not work when they reach their destination in these countries. The main reasons are problems such as electricity, lack of inputs to operate, inadequate maintenance and a design that does not consider the supply chain in the local context.

In a context of social isolation, the work process was conducted remotely most of the time, through our systemic approach to design, capable of articulating solutions to complex challenges.

The context of the pandemic raised an issue in the hospital equipment industry: the low availability of lung ventilators, which are mostly ultra-sophisticated models and dependent on imported technologies. An unfeasible option in a time of global scarcity.

From the need to design equipment that would meet an urgent demand in a simple way, we prioritized components and materials already available in the production chain to make manufacturing cheaper and faster. We bring together manufacturers from different sectors, such as Gertec, an industry in the automation technology area, to redefine industrial processes and make them more agile.

However, just designing the pulmonary ventilator would not guarantee its production. It was necessary to ensure that it adequately met the clinical needs, following all the safety standards of the responsible health agencies.

“We created simple-to-use equipment because this is a fundamental factor, considering that we will have a contingent of health professionals who are not used to operating conventional ventilators”, explains Dr. Luiz Fernando Falcão.

After the creation of prototypes of the equipment, a series of tests were carried out by specialized teams so that it could be validated, ensuring the proper functioning of the Pulmonary Ventilation System without risks or harm to the health of patients.

With this, we arrived at a pulmonary ventilator approved by the Ministry of Health and which is in the process of certification by Anvisa (National Health Agency). It is capable of being applied in different journeys of use, both from an economic and human point of view, in a country as unequal as Brazil.

We believe that innovation only really happens when it gets off the ground.

“We created simple-to-use equipment because this is a fundamental factor, considering that we will have a contingent of health professionals who are not used to operating conventional ventilators”, explains Dr. Luiz Fernando Falcão.

After the creation of prototypes of the equipment, a series of tests were carried out by specialized teams so that it could be validated, ensuring the proper functioning of the Pulmonary Ventilation System without risks or harm to the health of patients.

With this, we arrived at a pulmonary ventilator approved by the Ministry of Health and which is in the process of certification by Anvisa (National Health Agency). It is capable of being applied in different journeys of use, both from an economic and human point of view, in a country as unequal as Brazil.

We believe that innovation only really happens when it gets off the ground.

This project has received a Silver medal in the 2021 Brasil Design Award, in the category: Digital Design – User Experience (UX).