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East/West Manufacturing Enterprises and SISU Partner on AIR BOOST's Low-Cost Ventilator for COVID-19 Fight
April 23, 2020 | PR NewswireEstimated reading time: 1 minute
East/West Manufacturing Enterprises (East/West), a leading full-service Electronics Manufacturing Services company, and SISU, a highly skilled robotics engineering firm, both based in Austin, Texas, today announced their partnership and close collaboration to build AIR BOOST's Austin P51 emergency hospital ventilator.
The sophisticated yet simple-to-use ventilators are a life-saving solution to the widespread shortage of hospital ventilators resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Austin P51 ventilator is a low-cost, high-quality ventilator that includes many of the key features of current ICU-grade ventilators but can be quickly produced and delivered. The ventilator is the result of a "moonshot" idea conceived by AIR BOOST in March. By working around the clock, the design and prototype productions were completed by SISU days later on March 31, 2020.
"SISU has an amazing hard-working team and initially asked us on a Friday afternoon to build printed circuit boards for the ventilators," said Andy Salo, CEO of East/West. "On Saturday, we received parts and by Monday, we had completed the first set of ventilator boards. We were happy to help get a life-saving project kicked off quickly in this difficult time."
East/West is an ISO 13485 quality certified manufacturer for medical devices and was a natural selection for SISU to use on the project. "The East/West team has been incredibly responsive," said Russell Aldridge, CEO of SISU. "As we received feedback from doctors and hospitals, we had to rapidly work through new iterations. East/West was with us every step of the way to get our prototype and pilot boards turned around immediately."
AIR BOOST is simultaneously funding and seeking additional financing to finalize Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to buy inventory, as it stands ready to produce and deliver thousands of units with an anticipated cost of $1,500 per unit. In contrast, hospital ICU ventilators typically cost $25,000 -$50,000. East/West and other suppliers are providing services and component parts at reduced cost to help support this effort.
Please visit p51ventilators.com for more information on the ventilators.
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