As the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge across America, the demand for lifesaving medical equipment proceeds to peak right alongside it. Unfortunately, due to nationwide shortages, many fear that such interventions might not be available to meet the growing demand. 

According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, approximately 960,000 coronavirus patients across America may need breathing assistance, provided by a ventilator, at some point during the pandemic. Unfortunately, our country reportedly only has only about 200,000 ventilators currently available. 

L-R: Alex Scott, Brandi Gerstner, and Rachel LaBatt

Thankfully, a small team of engineers out of Southern Maryland are working tirelessly to repurpose old breast pumps into lifesaving pieces of medical equipment, and are hoping to soon gain FDA approval on these groundbreaking devices. 

Recycle and Repurpose

When Brandi Gerstner, an engineer, and physicist with a background in biomedical research, realized that reversing the suction function on an old Spectra breast pump essentially turned it into an “intermittent positive pressure ventilation” device, she soon set out to transform more recycled pumps into lifesaving pieces of medical equipment.

In an interview with The BayNet, Brandi discusses where she found the inspiration to transform breast pumps into ventilators.“A breast pump does pulsing intervals. It is a sanitize-able biomedical device that’s approved by the FDA,” Brandi said. “You know they’re reliable, they’ve been used by moms everywhere for decades. What if I could reverse it?” 

Soon after stumbling upon this innovative realization, Brandi says she began experimenting with altering how the breast pump operates by reversing the suction function. “I grabbed my old one from the basement, grabbed a screwdriver, and an X-Acto knife… Sure enough, you can turn it around very, very easily.”

Saving Money and Lives

According to The BayNet, Brandi, along with her husband, Grant Gerstner, and fellow engineers Alex Scott and Rachel LaBatt have since been able to convert a single breast pump into a fully functioning ventilator in just four hours. Furthermore, these prototypes only cost a fraction of what traditional ventilators typically go for: just 500$ per prototype versus the 5,000-50,0000 dollar price tag for conventional ventilators.

Mama Milk Magic

Considering everything we know about the virus-fighting properties of breastmilk, the current WHO recommendations for COVID19+ mothers to continue nursing, as well as research studies being performed to determine if breastmilk antibodies can protect babies and adults from infection; it’s pretty incredible to see that breast pumps are now also being utilized to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Seeking Approval

Brandi and her team are currently working to gain FDA approval on their breast pump ventilators, a process that requires a review from a pulmonologist in a biomedical simulation laboratory. Thankfully, a new FDA incentive intended to accelerate the approval of emergency lifesaving medical devices may help expedite the process.

“I’m very hopeful that we can find the right collaborators in the biomedical community to get this design validated and replicated as quickly as possible,” Brandi told the BayNet. “Our ‘good’ would look like rapidly getting into a high-quality biomedical simulation lab, and getting into a hospital.”

Brandi and her team are currently accepting donations of new and old breast pumps, along with financial contributions to continue making prototypes. To find out how you can contribute, you can contact them at breastpumpvent@gmail.com or through Facebook here.