A Nigerian born doctor, Dayo Olakulehin, has designed an emergency ventilator that is attracting global attention consequent to COVID-19. At the advent of Covid-19, there came a need to fight the virus. This was where a Nigerian Doctor who lives in Canada, Dayo Olakulehin with his partners produced an affordable emergency ventilator to the market known as The LifeAir G1. He was practicing in Nigeria before migrating to Canada where he developed the concept of designing an affordable ventilator that can save lives in developing nations.
The ventilator is small and portable. Dayo and his team took time and invested a lot to build a prototype even though they didn’t have investors interested in the project. The portable LifeAir G1 emergency ventilator could free up resources for Ontario hospitals and long-term care home fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was initially designed to be sold for about $1,000, making it more affordable for poor and remote hospitals and clinics in the developing world. However, the Orangeville business group received $150,000 in funding from an American seed money startup accelerator called Y Combinator, which helped to finalize the prototype and get the emergency ventilator closer to Health Canada for possible certification.
Loius Sapi, Dayo’s business partner explained, “With LifeAir, you don’t need an intensive care unit bed. You don’t need an anesthesiologist and you don’t need a ventilator specialist. You can put this in a nursing home for these elderly people who are starting to suffer.”
According to him, “This one would be sufficient for the majority of cases that are currently on ventilators.” On a scale of 1 to 10 of respiratory distress; one is low, 10 is all you need to be on an iron lung. We can handle up to a level 6 or 6.5.”
The government of Canada has promised to invest $20 million into the advancement of medical research and tools to combat infectious diseases through an Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund. The government boasted that it has some of the best and brightest minds in the world in Ontario. And Nigeria’s Dayo Olakulehin is one of them.
According to Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, “Whether it’s developing a vaccine, using 3-D printers to make personal protective equipment or designing better portable ventilators, our brilliant researchers are leading the charge in the fight against COVID-19.”
First known as the Dbox, the LifeAir G1 is based on an initial design by a Nigerian medical doctor, Olakulehin, to save lives and be affordable for developing nations.
Loius Sapi said he first met Olakulehin after he finished as a guest lecturer for the Research Innovation and Creation (RIC) Centre, an Ontario program that provided advice to startup companies. When Olakulehin approached him, he saw how much the prototype meant to him.
Dayo lamented on how over 100,000 of needless deaths comprising children, adults are encountered in Nigeria from respiratory distress due to malaria. Despite the fact that the WHO and the United nations know about the project and the partnering organization, it still requires money for it to sell through. And as at that time, the cost of ventilators started at about $10,000 to $40,000 and there is a need to produce a prototype that will cost about $1,000.
Dayo lamented that, as a poor Nigerian Doctor, he could not afford to achieve this alone without partnering with some people.
The LifeAir G1 emergency ventilator can control tidal volume, breathing rate, inspiration/expiration ratio and pressure safety systems and alarms. It doesn’t require intubation, and comes with an attachment allowing a patient to be intubated if required. Dr. Dayo Olakulehin has shown to be a great ambassador and worthy Nigerian through this global feat.
