Social Enterprise · Oxford University

Because every breath matters

By the time you have read these words, you will have unconsciously performed a human survival technique several times — unaided.

Our Story

See the Technology

💡 Upgrade tip: Replace this Cover block with a Smart Slider 3 shortcode block for a 3-slide animated hero:

Slide Background

01. Slide Background

Every slide includes a background, which can be a picture or solid color.

Step 1

To change the background click on the label bar and in the layer window select the style tab.

Step 2

Choose a source from the background top tab then upload an image or pick a background color.

Next Slide

>50%of LMIC ventilators broken or unusable

1,700ventilators for 1.2B people in African LMICs, e.g. Malawi

30,000ventilators for for 1.2B people in upper-income countries, e.g. UK

$257k6-year cost of an industry standard ventilator

The Challenge

The ventilator crisis in low-resource settings

Just having access to more high-end ventilators will not solve the problem. The challenge is systemic.

🔴

Too Few Ventilators In Use

Over 50% of LMIC mechanical ventilators are broken or too complex to operate. Equipment graveyards hold much of the donated stock.

💸

Prohibitive Total Cost

A standard ventilator costs $257,250 over 6 years in a LMIC setting. Purchase, training, service contracts and oxygen all add up.

👨‍⚕️

Multi-Purpose Clinical Roles

In LMICs, staff serve multiple roles simultaneously. Complex ventilators require specialist training most teams cannot sustain.

⚡

Unreliable Infrastructure

Power, medical air and oxygen are costly and frequently interrupted. Making the medicinal gas last longer is vital.

The Misconception

After COVID, don’t we have enough ventilators?

The assumption

After COVID, we donated thousands of ventilators to LMICs. Surely the problem is solved? If you counted all those in equipment graveyards, you might be right.

Donated equipment often not operational
Complex devices require specialist training
Service contracts unaffordable or unavailable

The reality

Over 50% of LMIC mechanical ventilators are broken or too difficult to use. Simply donating more of the same equipment does not solve the problem.

Need affordable, repairable platforms
Local manufacture and servicing is key
Sustainable solutions, not one-time donations

The Solution

OxVent-P — built for where it’s needed most

A sustainable ventilator platform to be used across clinical situations and locations.

Problem

OxVent-P Solution

Too few ventilators — broken or complex

→

Simple design purpose-built for low-resource settings

Prohibitive total cost of ownership

→

Significant reduction in 6-year total ownership cost $257,250

Multi-purpose clinical roles require easy equipment

→

Easy to use, consistent platform — easy to train and moveable

Costly and unreliable power, air and O2;

→

Venturi innovation uses <50% medicinal air — naturally efficient

Why OxVent-P

What makes OxVent-P innovative

Six design principles that make OxVent-P uniquely suited to low-resource clinical settings.

Unique

Patented closed loop venturi-driven mechanical ventilation system.

Efficient

Venturi system reduces medicinal air by >50%. No venting of unused medicinal air to atmosphere.

Sustainable

6-year lifecycle cost is less than 50% of a typical ventilator — from purchase through to retirement.

Affordable

Designed for simple repairs with zero replacement valves. Standard components and consumables throughout.

Repairable

Serviceable locally in LMICs — no expensive third-party service contracts required.

Usable

Simple buttons, switches and alerts. Easy to train clinical staff across multiple roles and settings.