Gaming hardware manufacturer Maingear, makers of the RUSH, are now preparing to help those in need. The company will use it’s manufacturing resources to create affordable emergency ventilators for struggling medical facilities. Known as the Maingear LIV, the system is made to meet the needs of health care providers. Using their New York City location, Maingear plans to help out the city during its ventilator shortage. Over time, they hope to provide more to other facilities internationally.

The Maingear LIV features redundant power circuits, an accessible touchscreen interface, and other emergency failsafes. It will also feature a special coupling device that restrains and drains exhaled aerosolized viruses from patients. The system will also allow for routine maintenance under extreme conditions. Maingear is currently pricing it at a quarter of the traditional ventilator price to make it easier for medical facilities to acquire. It’s primary purpose is for use in intensive care units, which current events have only increased the need.

“It was clear once this situation began to escalate that something had to be done,” says Maingear CEO and Founder, Wallace Santos. “Within days of assembling our team, we had our first prototype ventilator ready to go. Besides the lack of medical supplies and equipment, we think there will be a shortage of medical professionals who can operate these devices especially in field hospitals, so we made it incredible simple to use. Now we need help getting the word out to the appropriate people.”

“Medical Ventilators are among the most critical devices required to deal with the sudden spike of hospitalized patients. There is a massive global shortage of these devices, so when Maingear approached me about building one, I connected them with some inventor friends who could help,” says Pediatric Radiologist, Deepak Kaura, Chief Medical Officer of 1QBit. He is also a member Maingear’s Medical Advisory Board.

“We are experiencing the first wave of the pandemic. The lack of critical equipment such as ventilators is a key limitation in our response. This ventilator has the advantage of being portable, rugged, and easily operated by frontline personnel,” says Nathan Mokadam, Director of Cardiac Surgery at Ohio State University, and another member of Maingear’s Medical Advisory Board.

Maingear is working with state and local officials to place LIV ventilators where they’re in the most need. The American Hospital Association estimates that the US may need as many as 960,000 ventilators during this pandemic. New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, also stated that New York will potentially need 30,000 ventilators two weeks from now. Maingear is currently seeking FDA approval to deliver as many of the LIV units as possible, so they’re hoping to spread the word.

What do you think? Know of a medical facility seeking options? It may be worth having them check out the Maingear LIV.