Low-Cost Opensource Mechanical Ventilator

UPDATE (April 25, 2020): We've changed the images from our scale-model prototype to the full-sized working version and added in a video link showing the ventilator in action.

April 17, 2020 | ProgressTH 

We've recently begun developing a low-cost opensource mechanical ventilator. We're using cheap and easily sourced electronic components including a locally-produced Arduino Uno-compatible microcontroller (Gravitech's Lambda board), high-torque servos used by hobbyists, and 3D printing to build our prototypes.

Our project is up on Thingiverse here. It includes some STL files for printing as well as a SketchUp 2017 file with all the parts, an assembled and labeled view, an exploded view, and the parts laid down for 3D printing. 

To add structural support to the design we're using 20mm PVC pipe easily sourced at any hardware store here in Thailand.

The ventilation itself is accomplished using a handheld resuscitation bag, with our prototype essentially automating the compression of the bag. Unlike a human hand, we can program our prototype to compress the bag at precise rates and for precise depths thus controlling both the rate at which air is delivered to a patient as well as the volume.

Background

The recent health scare has helped raise awareness of certain shortcomings regarding modern human healthcare.

Among these shortcomings is a lack of accessible and affordable essential medical equipment, particularly ventilators. 

Companies that make them keep their designs a secret and often overcharge customers for their use creating scarcity especially when they are needed most.

While there are many news stories circulating today of teams racing to build low-cost opensource mechanical ventilators, this idea isn't new nor is the necessity for a cheaper and more accessible mechanical ventilator something that just recently came up.

An MIT project described in a paper titled Design and Prototyping of a Low-cost Portable Mechanical Ventilator, is dated 2010 and specifically notes that shortages of mechanical ventilators aren't just a problem for people who can't afford them, but even in developed countries where emergencies (such as an outbreak, an accident, or natural disaster) create an influx of demand that can't be met because of the difficulty of buying additional mechanical ventilators that are complicated, expensive, and in short supply.

3D Printed DIYbio Opensource Centrifuge

November 21, 2017 | ProgressTH Our 3D printed DIYbio centrifuge v 2.0 is operational. With version 1, we used a brushless motor used on drones which required an electronic speed controller and an Arduino microcontroller just to get it to spin. This version uses a simple 12V DC motor controlled by simply flipping a rocker switch.

A microswitch located near the cover cuts the power when the cover opens, and returns power to the motor when it is closed. It is a common safety feature found on many laboratory micro centrifuges.

Because it is much simpler and because there is a lot of extra space in the housing, a lot of expanded functions can be added later by users. While this version does not require a microcontroller of any king, there is plenty of space to add one (for timers or other functions).

Check out all the files here on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2598206

Check out a quick video demonstration here:

For information on a simple DNA extraction protocol we've used in the past which utilizes a micro centrifuge, see here.

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Gene Editing vs. Alternative Technology

November 18, 2017 | ProgressTH Ed Yong in his article, "New Zealand’s War on Rats Could Change the World," helped frame up an ongoing debate over using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) altered through gene-editing technology to eradicate pests. In this particular case, the problem is rats and other invasive predatory mammals that endanger New Zealand's native bird populations.

Yong covers proposals to introduce genes into mammalian populations to hinder their ability to reproduce. These "gene-drives" are unlike other technologies like gene therapy, which replace faulty genes in human patients to correct genetic diseases or enhance an individual's immune system to fight cancer. Unlike gene therapy where the corrected genes are not passed down to an individual's offspring, gene-drives imply that edited genes would be passed down to future generations.

A rat with a compromised reproductive system would pass those genes down to whatever offspring it managed to have. Eventually, the entire species would carry the compromised genes, its numbers would dwindle, and eventually disappear altogether.

New Zealand's invasive mammalian predator problem isn't the first case this technology has been proposed for. Companies around the world are racing to introduce similarly edited genes into mosquito populations.

Wonder Technology vs Alternatives 

Mr. Yong's article, however, did not just sell biotech to readers. An articulate and superior counterargument was presented, warning of a sort of invasive species scenario in reverse where the edited genes would "quickly and relentlessly spread," overwriting an entire population's genome, and once released would be nearly impossible to contain.

3D Printed DIYbio Orbital Shaker

November 11, 2017 | ProgressTH Orbital shakers are used to agitate substances in closed vessels such as jars, test tubes, and enclosed bioreactors.

Our design utilizes 608zz bearings (x6), a 12v stepper motor and driver, a potentiometer, and an Arduino Micro Pro to create variable, smooth, and reliable orbital motion control.

The files, including the Arduino sketch and the SketchUp file we designed it in are all up on Thingiverse here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2633507

Wiring diagrams and additional resources will be added soon. The platform itself was specifically designed to be removable via 3 bolts. This allows users to create custom holders to keep their vessels secure while in motion. The platform moves very quickly at full speed.

A quick video demo can be seen here:

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3D Printed DIYbio Centrifuge V 2.0

October 21, 2017 | ProgressTH This new version of our original F.Lab centrifuge​ we are working on will use a 12v DC motor, and a basic rocker switch to make the simplest and easiest centrifuge design possible. However, the design includes provisions to add in a microswitch to automatically turn off the motor when the cover is open, and a microcontroller (Arduino Nano) for timing functions.

Additionally, the actual centrifuge rotor has been slightly modified in SketchUp to include more sides and thus produce a smoother circumference. This may help further stabilize the rotor while in motion.

While the brushless 1806/2400 drone motor was strong and fast enough, it was expensive, a bit more difficult to find for those who don't order online, and interfacing with the ESC via an Arduino is not easy for many beginners who might otherwise want to tackle the project.

The thought process behind this new version is to make a platform simple enough, and with enough options for modification and improvement so that more people build the design.

From the beginning, we plan on offering two versions that will be available on Thingiverse, one with a solid fully 3D printed cover, and one that integrates acrylic so the rotor can be viewed when in motion. This lets makers who have access and experience working with acrylic have the option for a window, while the solid cover is easier for anyone with a 3D printer to make regardless of their resources and background.

We were pleased to see others make our original centrifuge including Make Magazine​. Japan-based maker Shingo Hisakawa has already improved upon the original design, offering his improvements here for free on GitHub​. We hope this new version attracts even more enthusiasts to try out opensource DIYbio hardware.

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Make Magazine, Biohacking, and 3D Printed Centrifuges

March 30, 2017 ProgressTH 

Volume 56 of Make Magazine recently hit the bookshelves here in Bangkok. The theme was biohacking and the powerful way technology and more importantly, collaboration is transforming the way we research, develop, and devise ways to improve our understanding of biology and how to apply it both for agriculture and human health.

We were particularly grateful to have our 3D printed centrifuge featured amid the many other incredible projects in this issue.

Also in this issue was an article written by Jose Gomez-Marquez who is co-founder of the MakerHealth and Maker Nurse projects. In his article he shares:

Over time, industry slowly black-boxed our medical technologies and discouraged makers from participating - but they never went away. Today, life science and health makers form networks like MakerHealth and DIY bio communities. They fuel open protocols and cheap instrumentation.

He then shares some advice on how you can get started:

Need a place to begin? Start with a teardown and remake what you see at the doctor's office.  

Jose captures precisely both the motivation that drives our projects, as well as the process we've gone about pursuing them.

The 3D printed centrifuge is just a starting point, and we shared it online for everyone to see and build themselves not only so they can make copies of it, but to also improve upon it or even use it as inspiration to tackle other pieces of essential laboratory equipment.

Better Tech, More Collaboration Helps Drop Barriers for Gene Therapy

January 24, 2017 | ProgressTH 

Imagine being able to replace any section of your DNA precisely to cure genetic conditions, regenerate damaged or aging body parts, or train your immune system to recognize and eliminate otherwise incurable diseases. A technique called gene therapy is making this possible. 

However, gene therapy is still a cutting edge technique. With a few exceptions aside, gene therapy is still being explored mainly in animal models and clinical trials. But to even attempt it several years ago, researchers would have to be lucky enough to work at one of a handful of premier medical facilities around the world. 

Today, this is different. Research institutes all around the world are now increasingly gaining access to the technology and techniques required to study and apply gene therapy on their own, including here in Thailand.

We visited the Institute of Personalized Genomics and Gene Therapy at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University and spoke with Associate Professor Dr. Manop Pithukpakorn to learn about the current state of gene therapy in general, and how recent trends in technology and cooperation between researchers have helped remove barriers to the progress of this powerful technique.

We also learned about what precision medicine may help achieve before the promise of gene therapy is fully realized.

Epipen goes from $300 to $30 to $3 with Opensource and 3D Printing

October 10, 2016 | ProgressTH Corporations will take as much as the public allows them to. It is ultimately up to the public to represent their own best interests, and unrealistic to expect corporations or the governments charged with reining in their behavior to keep abuse and overpricing in check.

While the US government held a hearing regarding Mylan's EpiPen pricing in which a package containing two of the devices costs a whooping $600 ($300 per device), little appears to have been done except provide the public with the belief that "something" will eventually be done by what is a clear case of price gouging.

DIY Gene Therapy: A True Biopunk Story

May 2, 2016 | ProgressTH It is inevitable that the technology currently controlled by large monopolies ends up democratized and in the hands of smaller and smaller organizations and eventually, in the hands of individuals. This includes very powerful biotechnology with the ability to alter our own genes.

Biopunk is a sub-genre of cyberpunk, a psuedo-sci fi version of anarchy or agorism that focuses on evening the odds specifically by using technology.

Gene therapy is currently at the leading edge of medicine, proving itself against some of the most confounding human health conditions we have ever faced from blindness and deafness, to cancer and diabetes.

Gene therapy essentially is a method of identifying where our genetic code has gone wrong, and reintroducing code through a reprogrammed virus to correct it. In the case of cancer, we can reprogram our immune systems to see the otherwise “invisible” cancer cells destroying our bodies. Instead of subjecting ourselves to the devastating and ultimately futile effects of chemotherapy, gene therapy uses our own immune system to eradicate cancer just like it eradicates pathogens invading our bodies naturally on a daily basis.

Gene Editing Regulation Loophole Gives Biotech a Bad Name

April 19, 2016 | ProgressTH Mentioning genetically modified organisms (GMO) causes most people to recoil, and reasonably so. Corporations primarily involved in producing and marketing GMOs have used a variety of unscrupulous business practices to target regulators, consumers, the media, and the general public at large to accept both their products and their ambitions to monopolize entire industries with them.

So big has this problem become, that people unfortunately associate all biotechnology with these businesses. More unfortunate still, is that a novel and promising method of editing genes called CRISPR has become the next vector for these businesses to use and abuse in their "war" on sound biotechnology.

The tech magazine Verge reported in their article Gene-edited mushroom doesn’t need USDA approval for you to eat it that:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it doesn't need to regulate the cultivation and sale of a genetically modified mushroom because the organism in question doesn't contain any foreign DNA.

Unfortunately, and quite obviously, the USDA's decision has more to do with pleasing industry than protecting human health and the safety of the environment.

Anti-Aging: Living Your Legacy Instead of Leaving it Behind

Biotech CEO is "Patient Zero" for Anti-Aging Gene Therapy

March 6, 2016 | ProgressTH Imagine living to be 140, or 240, or even longer. Imagine doing so not as a frail elderly person, but in the same health and shape of a 25-30 year old.  Imagine humanity benefiting from your wisdom and experience and vitality for decades to come. Instead of leaving a legacy behind, imagine yourself creating one and living it well into the future.

It may sound like a fantasy or science fiction, but for a growing number of scientists, researchers, and biotech enthusiasts this future is becoming all but inevitable. Instead of investing in their "retirement" they are investing in moving beyond retirement.

In fact, some have even begun experimenting (on themselves) with therapies that rewrite our very genetic code, rewriting it in such a way that our genes express themselves as they did when we were younger and healthier.

One of these people is Liz Parrish, CEO of a startup venture called Bioviva. She had a team of doctors administer two such therapies to her creating excitement for forward-thinkers, and controversy for entrenched ideologies and industries. 

3D Printing Saves Lab Hundreds of Dollars

February 21, 2016 | ProgressTH 3D printing started out as a novelty for many, producing toys and trinkets. But as more and more people get them, and push them to their limits, the more practical uses 3D printing seems to have.

An incredible story has emerged from Eisen Lab at Berkeley University, California. The lab does genetic research, and an important part of genetic research includes visualizing the results of your research through electrophoresis. Even if you know nothing about genetic research, you have probably seen the DNA bands produced by electrophoresis when viewed under ultraviolet lighting (pictured above).

To make these patterns, researchers create a gel and use "combs" to place in the gel as it sets. Once fully set, the comb is removed and the well that is left is ready to receive prepared samples. Electricity is passed over the gel in a solution, and DNA fragments are pulled through the gel, separating depending on their length. Longer fragments travel a short distance, while shorter fragments make their way further to the other side of the gel. What results are the distinctive bands associated with genetic research.

The combs, among all the other equipment, are perhaps the simplest, and one would think the cheapest to replace. However, a blog post by Russell Neches who had been working in Eisen Lab, found out they were about  $51 each! $51 for a piece of plastic!

Cancer Cures and DIY Gene Therapy

February 17, 2016 | ProgressTH  News services around the world have recently reported on what Gizmodo calls a "revolutionary cancer therapy" that "shows promise in terminally ill patients."

It involves the re-engineering of a patient's T-cells so that the cells can then recognize and destroy cancer cells. The Gizmodo report claims: 

...more than 90 percent of terminally ill leukemia patients had their symptoms disappear completely. 

Terminally ill patients are those that are certain to die without intervention. A 90% rate of not only a response to the therapy, but full recovery is nothing short of extraordinary. 

The technique used is called "gene therapy," and gene therapy can be used in a wide variety of ways to treat many more conditions beyond leukemia. 

Clinical trials on both humans and animal models have shown promise for restoring sight, hearing, heart tissue, and even reversing debilitating genetic conditions and diabetes. 

And while gene therapy and its effectiveness in curing leukemia in terminally ill patients is making headlines this week, it has been under development for years and has in fact been proven in clinical trials as early as 2012. 

One of the first and most spectacular stories was that of Emily Whitehead. From a website created by her family as part of a charity organization set up in gratitude to Emily's second chance at life, it tells that story: 

Workshop Opens Eyes to the Complexity/Simplicity of Biotechnology

January 15, 2016 | ProgressTH Whether you realize it or not, biology itself is a sort of technology. It is a set of tools that have been naturally developed to allow organisms, including us, to survive in a variety of environments. Just like a high-tech solar panel provides our homes and places of work with electricity, our biology provides our bodies with energy, as well as defenses against a long list of threats big and small, and the ability to move through and appreciate the planet we live on.

Students learn how to load and program a thermocycler  which heats and cools DNA, combining them with primers, to help isolate sequences of interest for further examination. 

Human beings have, over time, learned to use the tools of biology in a wide range of novel ways. Aspects of certain bacteria allow us to cut, copy, paste, amplify, and analyze DNA. This allows us to understand life on a molecular level, as well as re-engineer it in a variety of ways to serve our various needs.

All of this is done in the molecular biology lab.

Can DIYbio Save Canada's Salmon?

December 27, 2015 | ProgressTH We recently introduced the concept of do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio), and how it empowers local communities, giving them greater insight into the living world around them. With the opensource tools being developed by community labs and makerspaces around the world, local communities can more easily make inquiries into the health and quality of the natural environment around them, including what they eat.

We are only just beginning to see a variety of opportunities to finally apply these tools and techniques practically. One of these opportunities may be tracking diseases affecting species of interests, like wild salmon in British Columbia.

A 2013 documentary titled Salmon Confidential followed biologist Alexandra Morton as she sought the cause of massive die-offs of British Columbia's wild salmon. Suspecting salmon farms located along the migratory routes of wild salmon may be spreading contagions among wild populations, she and an army of volunteer DIY-biologists examined fish, collected samples, and sent them off to labs for analysis.

Salmon Confidential from Twyla Roscovich on Vimeo.

Their work prompted a reaction from the Canadian government and regulatory bodies, and while that reaction was far from satisfactory, Morton's work has gained the attention of people around the world of potential problems that need to be overcome if wild and farmed fish are to be maintained as sustainable food sources.

Bangkok's Maker Community One Year Later

December 25, 2015 | ProgressTH It was just over a year ago that the first full-fledged makerspaces started springing up around Bangkok. We first covered Gravitech's Home of Maker on December 17, 2014. Little did we know how much would change between then and now.

Bangkok's maker community went from almost zero to impressive in just one year.

Before that, the best you could do was follow the expanding maker movement online and work on projects yourself or with a close circle of friends.

However, this changed when together with Home of Maker, Maker Zoo and Fab Cafe opened their doors. Finally, in Bangkok, the curious, the inventive, and the creative had convenient places to go to work on their projects, collaborate with others, catch a glimpse of personal manufacturing technology like 3D printing, and get their hands on opensource hardware like the Arduino microcontroller.

What is Do-It-Yourself Biology?

December 18, 2015 | ProgressTH Talk of DNA and biotechnology generally conjures up images of movie monsters or talk of large agricultural companies that use genetic engineering to modify organisms (GMOs). And for the longest time to ordinary people, biotechnology really was something they could only see in fiction or in practice in the hands of large, well-funded corporations and institutions.

F.Lab in Bangkok, Thailand is seeking to use DNA barcoding to identify, protect, and promote organic varieties of rice in Thailand. It uses its own DIY lab equipment 3D printed and assembled at local makerspace, Maker Zoo.  

But like computers, which also started out as an inaccessible curiosity to regular people, biotechnology is finally making its way into the hands of a much larger community.

Enter DIYbio 

That's where the DIYbio movement comes in. DIYbio is the local use of the tools and techniques of biotechnology by regular people who may not be trained scientists, but have an interest in biotechnology nonetheless.

SynBio/DIYbio เทคโนโลยีใหม่ที่คนไทยต้องรู้

22 มีนาคม 2558 - Progress Thailand - ปัจจุบันการรวมความรู้จากศาสตร์พื้นฐานต่างๆ กำลังก่อให้เกิดเปลี่ยนแปลงทางเทคโนโลยีอย่างก้าวกระโดด เทคโนโลยีชีวภาพก็เช่นกัน การผสมผสานแนวความคิดและเทคโนโลยีจากศาสตร์ต่างขั้ว ระหว่างวิศวกรรมและชีววิทยา ก่อให้เกิดสาขาวิชาใหม่ที่เรียกว่า ชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์ (Synthetic Biology) เพื่อทำให้สิ่งมีชีวิตที่มีอยู่เดิม เช่น แบคทีเรีย ยีสต์ เป็นต้น สามารถทำงานตามที่มนุษย์ต้องการได้ โดยมุ่งหวังให้สิ่งมีชีวิตสังเคราะห์เหล่านี้มาช่วยลดต้นทุนการผลิตจากวิธีการผลิตแบบเก่า และช่วยสร้างสารที่ไม่สามารถผลิตได้ด้วยวิธีดั้งเดิม เช่น ยารักษาโรคจากพืชปลูกยาก หรือแม้กระทั่งการนำสิ่งมีชีวิตสังเคราะห์นี้ไปทำลายเซลล์มะเร็ง เป็นต้น






ลองจินตนาการดูว่า จะเป็นอย่างไรหากวิธีการตัดต่อพันธุกรรมแบบเดิม ๆ ที่มีทั้งความยุ่งยากและซับซ้อน ถูกปรับเปลี่ยนให้ง่ายขึ้นเหมือนการเปลี่ยนหลอดไฟตามบ้าน!! เพียงแค่หาชิ้นส่วน DNA ที่ต้องการจากแคทตาล็อคตามที่เราออกแบบไว้ แล้วสั่งซื้อ DNA ที่ต้องการ จากนั้นก็นำมาแทนที่ของเดิมหรือเพิ่มเติมเข้าไปใหม่ สุดท้ายเราก็จะได้สิ่งมีชีวิตที่ทำงานตามที่เราต้องการ

ด้วยแนวความคิดของกลุ่มผู้ริเริ่มชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์ที่ต้องการทำให้วิธีการสร้างสิ่งมีชีวิตใหม่ ๆ คล้ายกับวิธีการสร้างวัสดุ อุปกรณ์ต่าง ๆ ทางวิศวกรรม โดยปรับปรุงระบบการตัดต่อพันธุกรรมให้ง่ายขึ้น ปรับชิ้นส่วน DNA แต่ละชิ้นมีรอยต่อที่เป็นมาตรฐานคล้ายอิฐบล๊อกหรือตัวต่อเลโก้ ทำให้การตัดต่อพันธุกรรมให้เป็นไปตามที่ออกแบบจึงทำได้โดยง่าย

ประกอบกับ ปัจจุบันมีบริษัทที่ผลิตเครื่องมือ และเทคโนโลยีที่เกี่ยวข้อง เกิดขึ้นอย่างมากมาย ก่อให้เกิดการแข่งขันในด้านราคา และคุณภาพ ทำให้เราได้เห็นสถาบันที่แต่เดิมทำงานด้านชีววิทยาหันมาสนใจ และเปลี่ยนแนวมาเป็นชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์มากขึ้น อีกทั้งก่อให้เกิดการสร้างชุมชน DIYbio/Synbio ซึ่งเป็นกลุ่มคนที่ต้องการทำงานนอกกรอบหลักวิชาการและการวิจัยแบบเดิม ๆ ทำให้ประชาชนทั่วไปเข้าถึงศาสตร์ดังกล่าวมากขึ้น

Do-It-Yourself Biology Comes to Thailand

February 7, 2015 -- Progress Thailand Biological technology, or biotech, has transformative powers that can help or hurt society in many ways. In terms of better understanding our biology, it can help a lot in creating new treatments and cures for diseases and defects. Our ability to take a common bacteria and turn it into a microfactory producing everything from energy to medicine is also a great potential help.

Of course there are many ways this technology can be abused. But the greatest way to prevent that is to ensure as many people as possible understand it, can use it, and can counteract any bad that can be done with it. Currently however, biotech is the sole realm of universities, governments, and large corporations. This is the way it has been since the term "biotech" was coined, but now, that is all changing.

DIYbio in Asia (Singapore)

ProgressTH 
June 20, 2014

DIYbio is molecular biology for the hackerspace. Usually these labs get started up in hackerspaces then as they grow in terms of both membership and equipment, move into their own spaces... or a DIYbio lab. There are labs popping up all across the United States and Europe, but as of yet, I have not seen much going on in Asia. I did stumble across DIYbio Singapore. Their latest blog entry is from May of this year, so they are still "active." This is a good sign and I hope to see more. It would be nice to have a lab eventually in Thailand.

Check out DIYbio Singapore's latest entry here. They appear to have successfully put together an OpenPCR kit. This is a device that allows for the replication/amplification of DNA and is useful for testing and identifying DNA samples. People getting their hands on the tools of molecular biology will increase understanding and innovations, while lowering the cost of procedures and biotechnology.