‘Bag Valve Masks' Pitched As Alternatives To Ventilators

IIT-Hyderabad scientists say the low-cost devices need to be manufactured on a war footing under the monitoring of a government task force

- Avadhani R

B.S. Murty, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad, has urged the government to consider the use of ‘bag valve masks’ as an alternative to meet any surge in demand for ventilators, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conventional ventilators are generally expensive, hard to produce and not portable, Prof. Murty said. He, along with V. Eswaran, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT-H, explained that ‘bag valve masks’ were small devices used to deliver breathing support in emergency situations. They are also known as “ambu bags”.