University of São Paulo: Inspire Project delivers 1000th pulmonary ventilator
In a ceremony that brought together managers and representatives of companies, public bodies and civil society, the Polytechnic School and the Brazilian Navy celebrated the production of the 1,000th Inspire pulmonary ventilator.
“The pandemic brought lessons. Despite the many losses we had during this period, society has shown that, if it is united, it is capable of facing any challenge. We learned that the University is able to respond to society’s demands quickly and effectively; that solving problems requires interdisciplinary work; and that collaboration takes us further than competition. I am pleased, at the end of my term at the Rectory, to see that the University is more united, more collaborative. We saved lives, we made a difference,” said Dean Vahan Agopyan.
The Inspire Project emerged at the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, and represented a challenge for researchers and volunteers, because the prototype’s differential was that it made a product suitable and economically and technically viable for the Brazilian reality. The project was approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), in August, and started to be produced in partnership with the Navy.
For the director of Poli, Liedi Legi Bariani Bernucci, “Inspire is the result of decades of study, constant and regular investments. Believing in knowledge is believing in the possibility of developing, here in Brazil, equipment, activating the industry, bringing innovation to society’s wealth. We believe in science.”
In just over a year, 1,000 pieces of equipment were produced and distributed to 219 cities in 16 states, including 40 units sent to the city of Manaus, at the height of the health crisis that hit the state of Amazonas in January.
“In these 65 years of partnership between the Navy and USP, there were several projects, several victories, but this Inspire project is the one that best represents the success that exists when people unite in favor of our society. We now deliver the Inspire mil. We don’t want to, but if necessary, we will make our production line available again”, highlighted the director of the Technological Center of the Navy in São Paulo (CTMSP), vice-admiral Paulo Cesar Colmenero Lopes.
Life Engineering Center
At the event, organized by Poli and the Association of Polytechnic Engineers, professors Raúl Gonzalez Lima, Marcelo Knörich Zuffo and Dario Gramorelli presented details of the Inspire project, its characteristics, stages of development and the importance of the efforts of the people involved.
According to Raúl Gonzalez Lima, the Inspire project is now entering a new phase, with the development of functionalities suitable for telemedicine, for example. To institutionalize and continue this experience, the Centro de Engenharia da Vida will be created at the Escola Politécnica.
The center will be a coalition of laboratories and institutes focused on the development of health equipment projects. In addition to its interdisciplinary character, the center should maintain a strong relationship with the private sector.
Inspire Project
Project Inspire emerged in March 2020, at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. The objective of the team of researchers was to develop low-cost, patent-free, rapid production equipment for respiratory support with national inputs, to offer an alternative and meet an eventual emergency demand for the device.
The project was submitted to clinical tests, carried out with patients at the Instituto do Coração (Incor) of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP, and was considered approved in all ventilatory modes offered.
The project had the participation of approximately 300 researchers and volunteers from various USP units and other institutions, such as Senac and the Federal Institute of São Paulo, and received donations from more than 60 private sector partners.
In September 2020, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) authorized the start of production of the Inspire emergency fan, which started to be carried out in partnership with the Brazilian Navy.