Mercedes Formula One (F1) will be producing a breathing aid to help keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care in the UK.
Mercedes F1 worked with University College London engineers and clinicians at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) to develop a breathing aid for coronavirus patients, which delivers oxygen to the lungs without the need for a ventilator.
Called Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), these devices are already being used in hospitals but are currently facing a shortage in supply. CPAPs are being used for COVID-19 patients in China and Italy.
The group has already delivered 40 of the devices to ULCH and three other London hospitals. If trials become successful, Mercedes-AMG-HPP will be able to manufacture up to 1,000 of the CPAP machines per day.
Approval for use has already been granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
VentilatorChallengeUK consortium
Meanwhile, a consortium of UK industrial, technology and engineering businesses has been formed to manufacture medical ventilators for the National Health Service (NHS).
Dubbed "VentilatorChallengeUK", the consortium includes Airbus, BAE Systems, Ford, Rolls-Royce and Siemens. The companies involved in the consortium have received orders for more than 10,000 ventilators from the NHS.
While the MHRA is yet to grant its approval, production of the ventilators is due to begin next week.
Dick Elsy, chief executive of High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: "This consortium brings together some of the most innovative companies in the world. They are working together with incredible determination and energy to scale up production of much-needed ventilators and combat a virus that is affecting people in many countries."
Prof. Rebecca Shipley, Director of UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering, said: "Normally medical device development would take years but we've done that in days because we went back to a simple existing device and 'reverse engineered' it in order to be able to produce them quickly and at scale."
