{"id":10294,"date":"2020-07-21T10:59:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T10:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294"},"modified":"2024-12-12T18:09:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:09:35","slug":"rapid-response-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294","title":{"rendered":"Rapid Response"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
From left to right: Michael Zabala, Taylor Burch and Tom Burch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was March 22.<\/span> Chris Spiker didn\u2019t have to guess which garage was Michael Zabala\u2019s. On a normal Sunday afternoon, he might have thought he was looking at someone gearing up to mow the lawn. But during a pandemic? The guy in the medical mask bent over a work table covered in wires and tubes was a dead giveaway.<\/p>\n

Spiker was finally heading home from his ICU shift at East Alabama Medical Center. He lived in Zabala\u2019s neighborhood, so Glenn Wood, an anesthesiologist at the hospital consulting with Zabala on the RE-InVENT project, had asked him to go check it out \u2014 to make sure he wasn\u2019t seeing things in the video Zabala had just texted.<\/p>\n

Spiker parked on the street. He was still in scrubs. He introduced himself. No one shook hands. Tom Burch, a senior lecturer in Auburn\u2019s Department of Mechanical Engineering, kept his distance, a bottle of sanitizer dangling from his belt. He\u2019s in his 60s. Zabala, an assistant mechanical engineering professor is only in his mid-30s, but he\u2019d been just as cautious as Burch. He\u2019s taught on the biomechanics of respiration in his Auburn University Biomechanical Engineering (AUBE) lab. He knows how lungs work. He was learning how the virus worked.<\/p>\n

Zabala got to it. He rattled off the Cliff\u2019s Notes from the weekend, about the team\u2019s desire to help mitigate any potential respiratory treatment equipment shortages in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, about Burch\u2019s suggestion to incorporate a CPAP machine, about the parts needed, about meeting Wood at Texaco that morning to grab some tubing and the test lung. Then it was time.<\/p>\n

Burch flipped the switch. Click. The test lung inflated.<\/p>\n

Click. It deflated. Click. Inflated, deflated. Click, click, click, click.<\/p>\n

It had rained that morning. The sun was finally out. The subdivision was just coming to life. Moms pushing strollers looked over. Dads on golf carts stared.<\/p>\n

So did Spiker.<\/p>\n

Click, click.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it have adjustable pressure settings?\u201d Spiker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp to 5-25 centimeters,\u201d Burch said.<\/p>\n

Click, click.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, it maybe needs to be about five at minimum, because that\u2019s the baseline to overcome the tube that\u2019s in their mouth. And you can adjust the rate, too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah,\u201d Zabala said.<\/p>\n

Click, click. Click, click.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, guys,\u201d Spiker said, \u201cI think you just created your own pressure-controlled ventilator.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
During an April 3 test at Auburn\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Vaughan Large Animal Teaching Hospital, the RE-InVENT kept a 200-pound goat perfectly ventilated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The goat won\u2019t remember April 3, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zabala, Burch and the other Auburn engineers behind\u00a0the RE-InVENT\u00a0will never forget it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had gone from concept to a successful test on a test lung in just two days,\u201d Zabala, a 2007 Auburn mechanical engineering graduate, said of the device, which effectively converts a CPAP machine into a safe, emergency alternative to conventional ventilators. \u201cBut it was still just awesome to see it perform so well on the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burch, who earned his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in mechanical engineering from Auburn in 1979 and 1982 respectively, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were pretty sure it would work,\u201d said Burch, who first proposed incorporating\u202fcontinuous positive airway pressure to simulate a ventilator. \u201cI use a CPAP machine, and it does 90% of what a ventilator does.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team focused on a design that would reliably ventilate a patient for an extended period, while also considering affordability and ease of manufacture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was almost like something out of \u2018MacGyver,\u2019 or like that scene in \u2018Apollo 13.\u2019\u201d said electrical engineering professor and RE-InVENT team member Mike Hamilton when he first learned of Zabala\u2019s and Burch\u2019s early efforts.<\/p>\n

Thanks to control systems improvements from Hamilton, as well as computer-aided modeling assistance from team member and mechanical engineering lecturer Joe Ragan, the\u202fdevice can be assembled\u202fin as little as four hours using approximately $700 in readily available component parts in addition to a standard CPAP machine. Standard hospital ventilators can cost up to $25,000.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An engineer with Huntsville-based IS4S helps assemble a RE-InVENT unit developed by a team within the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Easily one of Auburn University\u2019s most ingenious contributions to the fight against COVID-19, the device had performed flawlessly in early benchtop testing, starting with the proof of concept experiment in Zabala\u2019s garage. But the April 3 test at Auburn\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Vaughan Large Animal Teaching Hospital would determine whether the RE-InVENT would move from prototype into production.<\/p>\n

That the machine kept a 200-pound goat with a lung capacity similar to that of humans properly ventilated for two hours validated its design in ways that even surprised Wood, who monitored the procedure via Zoom along with other anesthesiologists, including an associate professor of anesthesiology in Auburn\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt performed perfectly,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIt went better than I expected in being able to ventilate the animal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A subsequent successful live animal test, this time on a sheep, proved just as promising. After that, it didn\u2019t take long.<\/p>\n

Huntsville-based IS4S, an integrated systems solutions company and defense contractor that frequently partners with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, quickly began production on the RE-InVENT, assembling 100 units in just three days in mid April.<\/p>\n

\u201cIS4S was tracking on the RE-InVENT project from the earliest days, and we knew that the need for these devices was urgent and pressing,\u201d said Ryan Hill, an IS4S research engineer who earned his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from Auburn in mechanical engineering in 2008 and 2011, respectively.<\/p>\n

Hill played an active role on the RE-InVENT team, helping refine hardware design for its second and third iterations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile many companies across the country are building ventilators, we thought few could assemble and produce the needed devices in under a week,\u201d Hill said. \u201cOnce the successful animal test was completed, IS4S immediately began taking the steps to fabricate the units for distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Huntsville-based IS4S, an integrated systems solutions company and defense contractor that frequently partners with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, assembled 100 RE-InVENT units in just three days in mid-April.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IS4S has fielded requests for the innovative accessory from across the country and as far away as India.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have several rural hospitals asking when we can send them devices,\u201d said Glenn Rolander, IS4S president and CEO. \u201cThere\u2019s also been a strong international demand from multiple medical agencies that contact us almost daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the RE-InVENT awaits Emergency Use Authorization approval from the FDA that would allow distribution of the device to health care professionals in rural areas, IS4S is endeavoring to provide units to Family Legacy Missions, a medical ministry serving vulnerable children in Zambia that expects its number of COVID-19 cases to rise over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are difficult times,\u201d Burch said. \u201cEverybody who understands the gravity of the situation wants to do something to help, so it feels good to think you\u2019ve helped with something that may have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burch\u2019s former student agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, did I have you in a class?\u201d Burch said to Zabala minutes after the RE-InVENT\u2019s first successful test in Zabala\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n

Zabala nodded and smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot an A.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was March 22. Chris Spiker didn\u2019t have to guess which garage was Michael Zabala\u2019s. On a normal Sunday afternoon, he might have thought he was looking at someone gearing up to mow the lawn. But during a pandemic? The guy in the medical mask bent over a work table […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRapid Response » Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rapid Response » Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was March 22. Chris Spiker didn\u2019t have to guess which garage was Michael Zabala\u2019s. On a normal Sunday afternoon, he might have thought he was looking at someone gearing up to mow the lawn. But during a pandemic? The guy in the medical mask bent over a work table […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T10:59:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T18:09:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2024\/12\/IMG_0734.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Henderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Henderson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294\",\"name\":\"Rapid Response » Auburn Engineer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-21T10:59:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-12T18:09:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/0f12244f68989f166403026962c082d4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rapid Response\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/\",\"name\":\"Auburn Engineer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/0f12244f68989f166403026962c082d4\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Henderson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc4a6f70e5a03351471b7f6bdbe066ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc4a6f70e5a03351471b7f6bdbe066ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Henderson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=49\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rapid Response » Auburn Engineer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rapid Response » Auburn Engineer","og_description":"It was March 22. Chris Spiker didn\u2019t have to guess which garage was Michael Zabala\u2019s. On a normal Sunday afternoon, he might have thought he was looking at someone gearing up to mow the lawn. But during a pandemic? The guy in the medical mask bent over a work table […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294","og_site_name":"Auburn Engineer","article_published_time":"2020-07-21T10:59:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-12T18:09:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2024\/12\/IMG_0734.jpg"}],"author":"Jeremy Henderson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Henderson","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294","url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294","name":"Rapid Response » Auburn Engineer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-21T10:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-12T18:09:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/0f12244f68989f166403026962c082d4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10294#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rapid Response"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/","name":"Auburn Engineer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/0f12244f68989f166403026962c082d4","name":"Jeremy Henderson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc4a6f70e5a03351471b7f6bdbe066ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc4a6f70e5a03351471b7f6bdbe066ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Henderson"},"url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=49"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10294"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10307,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10294\/revisions\/10307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}