BREATHING BAGS
Centreline vice-president Larry Koscielski operates a hands-free ambu bag actuator Tuesday at the company’s Windsor plant. The devices, produced in collaboration with St. Clair College to help in the COVID-19 crisis, await Health Canada approval.
A collaborative effort between Centerline (Windsor) and St. Clair College has produced an automated bag ventilator that is now being studied for approval by Health Canada.
The ambu bags ( bag-valve-mask) were designed to add to the supply of supportive breathing devices in case the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the supply of ventilators.
“From a mechanical engineering perspective it’s a fairly simple project,” said Centerline (Windsor) vice-president of process and technology development Larry Koscielski.
“The real story here is the collaboration of the different groups to produce something that meets patient needs.”
In addition to St. Clair’s Biomedical and Respiratory Therapy staff, medical professionals from Windsor Regional Hospital advised on the subtleties required on air pressure ranges and the number of compressions per minute required.
Ambu bags are normally manually operated, but are not meant for longer use as are the new automated versions.
The device is a self-inflating rubber bag and facemask. The mask is placed over the nose and mouth of a patient and the bag is squeezed to provide a flow of air.
“Larry and his team at Centerline are geniuses,” said St. Clair College’s vice-president-academic Waseem Habash.
“They were quick learners on the health sector.
“They spent tons of money out of their own pocket on this. They’re great community partners.”
The ambu bag weighs about seven to eight kilograms and can be hung from an IV pole, attached to an air supply and plugged in.
“Our faculty and team were involved by giving ideas and helping in the testing,” Habash said.
“I wish our students were here to see this. This was innovation in its most ideal form.
“Certainly our faculty will bring back their experience to students. What was accomplished in two weeks, the attitude that nothing can’t be done, is what employers look for.”
Koscielski admits he got an education on the simple act of breathing being more complicated than imagined.
He said the company assigned a dozen employees to the project for about three weeks.
“St. Clair and Windsor Regional were awesome in helping us understand the medical complexities and patient needs to those of us who don’t understand medical language,” Koscielski said.
“Every interaction with the medical professionals produced something else to take into account. We needed to understand the value of air pressure and adapting to the changes required.”
Koscielski said the medical professionals were leery of giving up the sense of understanding they get by manually squeezing the air bag.
“We were taking that feel away, but we have sensors on air pressure now to monitor that,” Koscielski said.
Once the scope and requirements of the project were understood, the company’s manufacturing expertise produced 11 prototypes and a final product in less than two weeks.
“The Windsor-essex ventilator group met Saturday, March 21, and we felt we had the people that could do this project,” Koscielski said. “We had an internal meeting Sunday and by Monday at 1 p.m. we had a prototype at the college for testing.”
The college supplied Centerline with a machine used for verification of ventilators and a simulated lung to take back to one of their Lasalle plants for testing.
“We produced a prototype a day for probably the first six or seven days,” Koscielski said. “It took about two weeks before we ordered materials to produce 50.”
Habash said working with Centerline has shone a light on the importance of having a domestic manufacturing sector and how the college can support local companies. “Someone can supply ideas and we can work with them to take it from the idea stage to a product,” Habash said.