The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a low-cost respirator design called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) that would help critically ill COVID-19 patients and bolster scarce stocks of traditional hospital ventilators. The prototype is composed of far fewer parts than traditional ventilators and is intended to last three to four months. Its license is being offered free to manufacturers through the Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. More than 100 manufacturers from around the world have already applied for a free license to build VITAL.
