Towards the end of March, world-leading supplier of advanced ventilators for intensive care units Getinge asked us to increase production of vital ventilator components. Humbled by the gravity and scale of the challenge Getinge is currently facing and honored to be entrusted with helping them supply much needed life-support equipment to hard-pressed intensive care units and patients in desperate need of respiratory care, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work straight away.
Helping leading ventilator supplier Getinge meet the soaring demand for their life-support equipment
Our highly automated production plant in Skara, Sweden, with its 3,300 m2 of injection-molding machines, time-saving robots and clean-room manufacturing facilities, has been designed to meet the global demand for life-support equipment and other essential components for the medical and healthcare industries.
Over the past 60 years, Elos Medtech has been supplying a wide range of technically advanced medical technology products and components to some of the biggest companies in the healthcare industry. Among them, leading global supplier of advanced ventilators for intensive care units, Getinge, with whom we have worked closely for more than 20 years. So when they asked us to increase production of several ventilation components in order to help them meet the overwhelming global demand for ventilators, naturally we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Teamwork and efficiency are crucial in times of crisis
As demand continued to increase, we called upon our manufacturing sites in Gørløse, Denmark and Timmersdala, Sweden for additional support. Unsurprisingly, they too were just as eager to help Getinge with their momentous task.
Our recent measures to streamline all aspects of production, packaging and logistics processes at several of our manufacturing facilities have also played a major part in enabling us to respond successfully to Getinge’s urgent needs. Processes that we hope will now help Getinge supply their life-sustaining equipment even faster to hard-pressed intensive care units and patients in desperate need of respiratory care.
Maintaining precision and safety is essential when producing life-sustaining equipment
The high-performance thermoplastic components we injection mold at our production site in Skara are used in some of the most demanding medical areas, such as life support, neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery and diagnostics. Made from PVDF, ETFE, ECTFE, PEEK, PES, PPS and PPSU as well as polyolefins PS and ABS, these carefully designed components are injection molded to ensure extreme accuracy and maximum uniformity.
Maintaining precision and safety is essential when manufacturing equipment for the healthcare industry, particularly when it comes to equipment for patients in need of intensive care treatment. And thanks to our expertise and experience in the industry, we are able to meet the strictest criteria when it comes to preventing sudden increases in production from affecting the accuracy or safety of these much-needed components.
Contributing to global efforts by producing large volumes of ventilation tubes and respirator valves
The components we are currently manufacturing as part of the global efforts to reduce the shortage of critical healthcare and medical supplies include:
Ventilation tubes and gas blenders/mixing chambers (inspiratory flow)
This is one of the larger components we produce in Skara. There is a ventilation tube in each ventilator, and it is a permanent, non-disposable component. The ventilation gases are prepared and mixed in the ventilation tube, which assists the patient with their breathing, ensuring optimum ventilation performance and patient comfort.
Respirator valves
Our disposable respirator valves undergo rigorous testing rounds and are highly sophisticated polypropylene components. Fitted with a fine mesh membrane, each respirator or ventilation valve has a built-in feedback system for maintaining the correct oxygen supply. This system enables healthcare workers to achieve the intended volume and respiratory frequency for that specific patient with complete accuracy.
Proud to be working alongside Getinge in the fight against covid-19
As I said at the start of this article, we are humbled and honored to be contributing to the fight against covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) alongside one of the world’s largest manufacturers of these much-needed life-supporting ventilators. Our long-standing, close working relationship with Getinge laid the foundations that is enabling us to quickly mobilize our production sites and help them overcome the equipment shortage faced by so many healthcare units during this critical time.
If you have any questions about our ventilator components or our work with Getinge to overcome the global ventilator shortage, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Or if you would like to find out more about safety and quality at Elos Medtech, you might be interested in reading this article by Anders Björklund, Director of Quality & Regulatory at Elos Medtech.
