Combiovent, a Cuban lung ventilator for intensive care of adults is already “in the introduction phase” in the national health system, particularly in Havana.
Currently, 15 units are operating in three hospitals in the Cuban capital, according to Granma newspaper.
The equipment can provide artificial respiration to seriously ill patients in critical condition “as a result of an illness, trauma or other condition,” which “requires ventilatory support,” says the official publication.
Designed and produced by the Combiomed Digital Medical Technology Company of the BioCubaFarma group, the device last March got the sanitary registration of the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED).
Already in 2022, the island’s regulatory authority had authorized its clinical use after a “rigorous validation process,” as reported at the time.
El permiso de uso en humanos fue otorgado luego de un riguroso proceso de validación. Se hicieron dos pruebas experimentales satisfactorias en cerdos, se realizaron pruebas al software, al sistema neumático, a la electrónica del equipo, y un diagnóstico de estabilidad. pic.twitter.com/VzdaLvTT5D
— Juventud Técnica (@JuventudTecnica) October 19, 2022
According to engineer Arlem Fernández Sigler, general director of Combiomed, the device “covers the entire range of functions linked to ventilation,” through its “functional stability,” as well as “the low noise, the high reliability of its internal turbine and the operational ease it offers to medical and nursing staff.”
Starting in Havana
Fernández Sigler told Granma that of the 15 ventilators already installed in Havana, four of them are in the Miguel Enríquez clinical surgical hospital: two in the intensive care unit, one in the emergency surgical unit and one in the therapy dedicated to the care of infectious diseases.
In addition, he explained, another four are operating at the 10 de Octubre Clinical Surgical Hospital, all in the intensive care unit.
The rest were placed in the Calixto García Hospital: two in the emergency care therapy of the emergency room and in the surgical unit and five in the intensive care unit of that Havana health center.
The strategy, said the director, is to extend the use of the equipment to all the provinces of the country, for which “the prior training of the personnel” is necessary, since it is “an extremely complex vital support equipment.”
The specialist added that about 95 patients have already been ventilated with the Combiovent “without any report of adverse events.”
According to Granma, the production of these ventilators on the island “represents a significant saving,” since the prices in the world market “normally exceed 20,000 dollars.”
Cuba began to work hard on the design of its own lung ventilator as a result of COVID-19, when the need for this equipment multiplied due to the characteristics of the disease and the impossibility of acquiring them because of U.S. sanctions.
Several prototypes were then created to respond to the medical emergency, a task pioneered by the Cuban Neurosciences Center (CNEURO).
