To help fight COVID-19, Indian Navy’s innovation will allow Oxygen cylinder to support multiple pati- The New Indian Express

NEW DELHI: India’s maritime combat force Navy has chipped in with an innovation that will support in the fight against the scourge of Novel Coronavirus (COVID19).

Personnel from the Naval Dockyard at Vishakhapatnam have succeeded in innovating a device with which one Oxygen cylinder can be used for multiple patients.

A typical Oxygen providing facility at hospitals feeds only one patient.  

The Navy on Monday communicated, “Personnel have designed an innovative ‘Portable Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold (MOM)’ using a 6-way radial header fitted to a single cylinder.

“This innovation would enable one Oxygen Bottle to supply six patients concurrently thus enabling critical care management to a larger number of COVID patients with the existing limited resources,” added the Navy.

The assembly has been tested and manufacturing has also begun. “The preliminary trials of the entire assembly were conducted at Medical Inspection (MI) Room at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam which was followed by rapid trials at the Naval Hospital INHS Kalyani wherein the portable MOM was successfully set up within 30 minutes,” Navy added.

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After successful trials at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, Navy has commenced manufacturing of 10 portable MOM with two 6-way radial headers catering for 120 patients at makeshift locations.

The entire set up was made operational by the creation of a Fine Adjustment Reducer and specific adapters of requisite dimensions for connecting the Oxygen cylinder and the portable MOM.

As per the Navy, during the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, ventilator support will be required for about 5-8 per cent of patients with symptoms whereas a large number would require Oxygen support. The existing facilities are not adequate to cater for such large requirements.

As for the necessity, Navy said, “A need was felt to design a suitable portable arrangement that could provide Oxygen through masks to a number of needy patients using a single-cylinder during emergencies which is the need of the hour.