KOLKATA: Covid patients can breathe easier now.
NIT Durgapur has designed a low cost oxygen concentrator that is coming to the market on Monday.
There were three central institutes that were competing with each other over designing oxygen concentrators — IISc Bangalore, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) and NIT Durgapur.
NIT beat others to bring the finished product to the market.
After patenting the design and know-how and technology transfer, mass production has started recently and institute management confirmed that the product will make its debut on Monday.
The machine has been named Pranayaam and has been prepared in the laboratories of the mechanical engineering department of the institute.
The work started during the first phase of Covid and once the machine was ready, clinical trial was done at Sanjiban Hospital that has been serving Covid patients and Calcutta Heart Clinic.
“The feedback from the two hospitals have been very encouraging and so we moved ahead with the project.
Finally from our laboratories through non-exclusive technology transfer, we will be able to reach safe homes and patients who are in home care/isolation or in oxygen on wheels support systems,” said Anupam Basu, the director of the institute.
At Rs 30,000 per machine, Pranayaam will not only help ease breaths but will save pockets too.
The machine has a capacity of five litres per minute oxygen flow.
“We have been able to reach a purity level of 96 per cent,” said SS Roy, faculty member of mechanical engineering department, who led the project.