Open innovation isn’t just the realm of do-it-yourself hobbyists, but the world’s top engineering and medical minds. (Other low-cost ventilator units have been developed by teams such as one at Stanford, but would require the better part of a year to ramp up manufacturing.) At the forefront of this wave of innovation are experts at universities like MIT and Rice, demonstrating that open innovation isn’t just the realm of do-it-yourself hobbyists, but the world’s top engineering and medical minds.Įngineering teams are working on ways to adapt existing, medical-grade supplies that hospitals already have on hand to act as an emergency substitute for ventilators when better machines are not available. The availability of ventilators has emerged as a limiting factor in treatment of the COVID-19 virus, prompting researchers to imagine alternatives to the proprietary machines most commonly in use, which cost $30,000 each. Open Licenses Provide Life-Saving Technology in a Crisis Importantly, they’re ensuring that patents, copyrights, and other legal restrictions don’t get between that knowledge and the people who need it most. Experts from the world’s top engineering programs have come together to share knowledge about medical technology, hoping to make life-saving treatments more widely available.