On Monday, 21 December 2020, the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic signed a document for the transfer of more than 100 CoroVents to the State Material Reserves Administration.
The development of the CoroVent lung ventilator was started by a team led by Professor Karel Roubík from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in March this year as part of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. It was designed from components commonly available on the market, which allows its rapid production in a large number of pieces, as there is no need to wait for custom-made special parts.
CoroVent fans were mass-produced by Mico Medical in Třebíč on the basis of a CTU license. In 161 days since its inception, CoroVent has received the prestigious FDA EUA (Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization) certification, which has enabled it to enter global markets. On 22 October, 2020, CoroVent obtained a permit to be placed on the market and put into operation as an emergency ventilator for patients with respiratory failure due to COVID-19, which started the distribution of these ventilators to Czech hospitals. More than 30 CoroVents were delivered through the Czech Technical University in Prague. The need for lung ventilators delivered to Czech hospitals was then reduced, also thanks to the purchase of devices by other entities.
Mico Medical is still working to obtain a European certification that would allow CoroVent to be used as a medical device in normal hospital operations.
"I would like to thank all those who contributed financially within the public collection to the development of the CoroVent lung ventilator - a Czech product ," says the Minister of Health doc. MUDr. Jan Blatny, Ph.D.
"I believe that CoroVents will be put to good use at the administration of state material reserves where they will be donated" says the rector of CTU doc. Vojtěch Petráček.