Renesas Electronics ventilator system reference design

Renesas Electronics has introduced an open-source ventilator system reference design that can be used to swiftly design ready-to-assemble boards for medical ventilators. Many regions are experiencing a critical shortage of ventilators as COVID-19 infections continue to rise and hospital demand exceeds supply.

The company’s engineers have followed several open-source ventilator designs, including the Medtronic PB560, to come up with an easy-to-assemble, three-board ventilator design. It controls the tidal volume and mixture of gas delivered to the patient while monitoring the patient’s status. The ventilator is portable and can be used with or without gas tanks. In addition, a humidifier can be connected to the ventilator’s intake path to soothe the patient’s breathing, making it more comfortable to be connected for long durations.

The reference design uses 20 Renesas ICs, consisting of microcontroller (MCU), power and analog ICs that address many of the ventilator’s signal chain electrical functions. The system design implements a sensor board and a motor control board, and features Bluetooth connectivity that allows medical professionals to monitor several patients simultaneously via a tablet or other mobile device. Each board has an MCU to control its specific task while monitoring the status of the connecting board. The ventilator solution also provides a system of checks and balances to enable regulatory approval and provide patient safety.