Fitbit unveils 'Fitbit Flow', a low-cost emergency ventilator, to aid during the Coronavirus pandemic

Fitbit has come up with a low-cost ventilator to help save lives in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company decided to manufacture the device in view of the urgent need for ventilators globally. The ventilator named Fitbit Flow is an easy-to-use automatic resuscitator designed for emergency ventilation. Fitbit has received nod from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for using the product during the COVID-19 pandemic in situations where all of the available, conventional ventilators are not available. [caption id=“attachment_8448891” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Fitbit Flow[/caption] The company said that the product was inspired by the MIT E-Vent Design Toolbox. It added the ventilator was designed by its engineers and researchers, after receiving inputs from clinicians caring for coronavirus patients from Oregon Health and Science Hospital and the Mass General Brigham Center for COVID Innovation. A ventilator is a life support treatment that gets oxygen into the lungs and the body when people can’t breathe on their own. “We saw an opportunity to rally our expertise in advanced sensor development, manufacturing, and our global supply chain to address the critical and ongoing need for emergency ventilators," said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. The device is shaped and sized like a toaster oven and its case is made from laser-cut aluminum for durability with a clear window to observe the automated pumping from a distance. The ventilator has a small screen, buttons and knobs positioned below and it is equipped with an internal compressor to power its needs. CEO of Fitbit, **James Park had last month said** they are making emergency ventilators that will be used to treat COVID-19 patients and help bolster supply of medical devices. Park said one of the advantages Fitbit has is that the infrastructure and manufacturing capability required is already available to them.