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Case Studies > How the Rise Emergency Ventilator Was Built From Scratch in 21 Days in Onshape

How the Rise Emergency Ventilator Was Built From Scratch in 21 Days in Onshape

Technology Category
  • Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
  • Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
  • Quality Assurance
Use Cases
  • Remote Patient Monitoring
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Rapid Prototyping
Services
  • Software Design & Engineering Services
  • Hardware Design & Engineering Services
  • System Integration
The Challenge
In the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. government officials asked hardware startup Meter to design an affordable and scalable hospital-grade ventilator to address anticipated nationwide shortages. The design needed to be created with readily available machine parts not earmarked for specialized medical use to avoid undermining the already-strained supply chain. Additionally, Meter’s engineering team was forced to work from home due to the pandemic’s shelter-in-place mandates.
About The Customer
Meter is a Boston-area hardware startup that was in stealth mode when it was approached by U.S. government officials to design a more affordable ventilator that could be rapidly manufactured in high quantities. The company has a core team of a dozen engineers and an extended team of about 50 people, including 3D-printing experts, hospital clinicians, software developers, and sheet metal fabricators. The team has deep backgrounds in manufacturing hardware products at scale and includes members with experience in manual bag resuscitator controls at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The Solution
Meter’s remote engineering team relied on real-time CAD collaboration tools to rapidly accelerate production. They used PTC’s cloud-native Onshape product development platform, which enables multiple people to simultaneously work together on the same CAD model online. This allowed the team to provide instant feedback on each other’s work and make edits in a collaborative way. The team also used Onshape’s Sharing feature to grant instant access to external partners with varying levels of permissions. Additionally, the team relied on 3D metal printing at Desktop Metal to make standard off-the-shelf parts that were not immediately available due to supply chain problems.
Operational Impact
  • The Rise Emergency Ventilator was designed and manufactured in 21 days, a development cycle that typically would require many months.
  • The ventilator was produced for under $1,000, compared to the industry average of $25,000 to $50,000 per unit.
  • The engineering team went through six design iterations in three weeks, equivalent to producing a new improved ventilator every 3.5 days.
Quantitative Benefit
  • The Rise Emergency Ventilator was produced for under $1,000 per unit.
  • The ventilator was designed and manufactured in 21 days.
  • The engineering team went through six design iterations in three weeks.

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