Hyundai Motor India develops automatic ambu bag actuator prototype

India's second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) will be submitting its third prototype of mechanical 'ambu bag actuator' or an automated ambu bag to the Tamil Nadu government for approval, said a senior company official.

Ambu bag actuators or a 'bag valve mask' is a manual resuscitator used in medical emergencies as first aid where automatic ventilator is not available.

"The demand for ventilators is increasing due to the spread of coronavirus in the country. In order to avoid the ventilator shortage situation, we thought of looking at alternatives and decided to automate the manual or the ambu bag actuator," S. Ganesh Mani, Director Production told IANS.

Ventilators are medical devices which take over the work of breathing from a patient who is unable to breathe by delivering air with high concentration of oxygen to their lungs.

For patients severely affected by Covid-19, ventilators are critical to ensure continuous oxygen is supplied to overcome respiratory insufficiency.

Mani said the company had given two prototypes to the Tamil Nadu government and the third one incorporating the suggestions will be submitted soon.

According to him, the ambu bag actuator is not a substitute for the automatic ventilators but will come in handy for those who are in need and also when automatic ventilators are not available.

Mani said the company has not worked out the investments, production capacity and other details as the first step is getting the government approval.

"The product can be made at our supplier partner facility and need not be made at HMIL's production facility," Mani added.

Mani stressed that the automatic ambu bag actuator's design and development is not linked anyway with HMIL's decision to assist Air Liquide Medical Systems to ramp up their advanced ventilator production capacity.

'Air Liquide Medical' is the Indian subsidiary of French company Air Liquide Healthcare.

"We have understood their supply chain and also started identifying newer supply source," B.C. Dutta, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, HMIL told IANS.

Dutta said HMIL's role in the partnership is to assist in ramping up the ventilator production capacity of Air Liquide Medical and also their supply chain.

According to Dutta, several parts' manufacturers have been identified for Air Liquide Medical.

"We plan to ramp up ventilator production by Air Liquide Medical to 1,000 units per month soon.