A locally-made ventilator is introduced by a research team at Da Nang-based Duy Tan College. The ventilator can be used for COVID-19 patients. — Photo courtesy Duy Tan College

Head of the research team, Dr. Le Hoang Sinh, said the prototype ventilator was the first product made by the college to help beat the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the materials were sourced locally by engineers from the college.

Sinh said the team is finalising the design to soon put it into mass production at a cost of VND20 million (US$870) each.

The DTU-vent can run on batteries for three hours in case of a power cut, he added.

Local firm QCM Technologies, an embedded software system developer, also debuted a non-invasive ventilator at Da Nang’s high-tech park.

A non-invasive ventilator made by local engineers of QCM Technologies at Da Nang Hi-Tech Park. It's the first made-in-Da Nang ventilator in the fight against COVID-19. — Photo courtesy Nguyen Thanh Chuong

Nguyen Thanh Chuong, director of the company, said the non-invasive prototype ventilator was manufactured by engineers and workers at the company.

“We could manufacture 20 non-invasive ventilators a day. It uses 50 per cent local materials for a competitive price of VND25 million ($1,000) each," Chuong said.

He said the prototype ventilator was produced using recommendations from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the US Food and Drug Administration.

The company plans to produce ventilators for export in the future, he added.

QCM, which was granted an investment licence at the park in 2017, has been a unique provider of technology solutions – including shrimp size and weight grading machines – for domestic use and export.

Also on Tuesday, the city’s young business association presented two ventilators and 1,000 COVID-19 test kits (worth $62,000) to Da Nang general hospital and centre for disease control. — VNS

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