Nissan has begun production of respirators at its plant in Barcelona, Spain to supply to hospitals across the world and assist with the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Hospital de Sant Pau, the engineering company QEV Technologies, along with Nissan and the technology centre Eurecat have developed the Q-Vent respirator, to be used in hospitals throughout the world.
Nissan says that the respirator has been designed to meet international specifications, which means it can be supplied to developing countries in the fight against COVID-19. The Q-Vent has already been authorised by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) and has been tested in the facilities of the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau (Barcelona) with excellent results. The first 20 units will be donated to the local health authority CatSalut for use in ICUs and ongoing clinical study to optimize the equipment.
Manufacturing the Q-Vent will begin this week at Nissan Barcelona Plant’s Powertrain Plant, with a capacity of 180 units per day, depending on orders. Eurecat has been in charge of advising on the design of components and the production of some of them, as well as managing the process for the inclusion of hospitals in the clinical study.
In related news, Ford Motor Company has stepped up production of respirators, face masks, medical gowns, and collection kits for COVID-19 tests. In addition to the current production of more than 3 million face shields in Plymouth, Mich., Ford-designed powered air-purifying respirator production also began on Tuesday. Ford is working closely with scientific instrument provider Thermo Fisher Scientific to quickly expand the production of COVID-19 collection kits to test for the virus.
