Clinicians and medical technologists in Galway have designed a way of splitting ventilators between two patients, which can be adjusted for each patient.

The Galway VentShare system has been designed so that it can be mostly replicated using equipment that already exists in most hospitals. Further development is underway on a sensor component.

It is hoped that this will increase ventilator capacity at a time of unprecedented demand following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dr David Hannon, anaesthesiology and Intensive Care registrar, University Hospital Galway, said: “This is the result of a great deal of collaboration between clinicians and the local medtech sector in Galway – researchers and people in the industry.”

The team has conducted hundreds of laboratory based tests since the start of March and aim to continue refinement in parallel with ongoing testing.

To find out more about the project, visit its website: galwayventshare.com.