Sciences

Costa Rica tests ventilator on pigs for possible use on COVID-19 patients

San José, May 6 (EFE).- Costa Rican scientists on Wednesday tested a prototype of a portable mechanical ventilation machine on a pig, which so far has yielded positive results and could be used on COVID-19 patients pending approvals.The pandemic has forced countries to search for a variety of medical devices to treat patients affected by the virus. Faced with the fight for supply and demand, Costa Rica is working to create its own mechanical ventilators. (Camera: MARÍA JOSÉ BRENS ). SHOT LIST: SCIENTISTS MONITORING A PIG THAT WAS BREATHING THROUGH THEIR VENTILATOR PROTOTYPE IN A LAB IN SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA.SOUNDBITES: PHYSICIST RALPH GARCÍA AND VETERINARY DOCTOR ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ.(IN SPANISH).TRANSLATIONS: 1.) Ralph Garcia: From all the battle worldwide for this type of device, for Costa Rica it is really satisfactory to know that the country has the human and technical capacity to build this type of equipment and guarantee health security in that sense (00:25-00:53).2.) Ralph Garcia: Up until now, all the results both from simulators and in live animals have been positive (01:07-01:13).3.) Andrés Rodríguez: The pig allows us, due to its similarity to our respiratory system, to pass this information to human patients. The pig does not suffer from physical involvement since it is anesthetized. We are monitoring the parameters of blood pressure, oxygenation and carbon dioxide to see that the patient is in normal physiological parameters. (01:31-01:59).