Basketballs and Drills: UA Scientists Designing Innovative Ventilator Prototypes

NBA Spalding basketball. - Unsplash, TJ Dragotta
Arizona Public Media

To address the shortage of health care supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Win Burleson and Marvin Slepian have been spending much of his time designing ventilators with solely readily available items. One of Dr. Burleson's ventilators involves a water bottle, a drill and a foot pump, while another includes a basketball and a 3D-printed piston. Dr. Burleson aims to have a ventilator prototype ready to deploy in the next few weeks to fill the supply gap before major manufacturers can produce fully featured ones.