The ultimate objective is to produce a portable, light weight, simple to use device capable of providing extended, personal ventilation assist to the patient suffering chronic pulmonary disease. Current assister devices are bulky, complex, not intended for portability and not available to the patient outside the hospital. The goal of Phase I is to prove the feasibility of a portable assister. Although the first unit will use several commercially available components (pump, valve, and battery) a portable unit (camera case configuration weighing 12 to 15 pounds) will be constructed. In Phase II, performance tests with human patients will lead to the optimization of individual components, and special designs of each will be developed if necessary. That will allow the weight to be reduced further. Then in Phase III production models, weighing approximately 6 pounds with a useful battery time before recharging of approximately 8 hours, will be constructed which will offer simple, reliable and personalized support to a population which currently experiences 19,000 deaths per year.
