General Motors Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Ultrasonically welded flow sensor critical to success of Hamilton Medical ventilator design

The body of the Hamilton Medical proximal flow sensor consists of two molded halves composed of medical-grade plastic. [Photo courtesy of Hamilton Medical] The disposable sensor monitors ventilation of critically ill patients with high precision.

Didier Perret, Emerson

Hamilton Medical (Bonaduz, Switzerland) produces intelligent ventilation solutions for intensive-care units and critical-care transports. To meet the exploding demand for ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton Medical established a new ventilator production site in Reno, Nevada, with the support of a local team from General Motors.

In four months, the facility moved from bare floor to full production, delivering the first of thousands of Hamilton-T1 ventilators purchased under contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in September 2020.

Get the full story at our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

MedTech 100 roundup: Stocks top pre-pandemic high

After weeks of flirting with the heights hit before COVID-19 ravaged the markets, medtech stocks finally topped the pre-pandemic high last week.

MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — spiked up to 93.11 points on Sep. 2, nearly a full point ahead of the pre-pandemic high of 92.32, which the market reached on Feb. 19.

Medtech stocks had hit a previous mid-pandemic high of 91 points last week, hanging around there before the sudden rise to 93.11, which was followed by a quick dip to 90.64 points 24 hours later.

The index dipped from that peak, though, sitting at 89.29 points at the end of last week (Sep. 4). Overall, medtech stocks saw a -1.6% decrease from the 90.78-point total at the same time a week prior (Aug. 28).

The most recent high mark represents a 0.9% rise from the Feb. 19 high point of 92.32, while the tally at the end of the week marks a -3.3% decrease from that pre-pande…

Ventec, GM complete HHS ventilator contract

(Image courtesy of Ventec)

Ventec Life Systems and General Motors announced today that they completed their government contract to produce 30,000 ventilators.

The two companies kicked off mass production of Ventec’s V+Pro critical care ventilator at GM’s Kokomo, Ind., plant in April, having received a $489.4 million contract from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services to deliver 30,000 ventilators by the end of August amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following yesterday’s shipment to complete the delivery, GM has formally turned over operational control of the Kokomo manufacturing operation to Ventec, which will produce its VOCSN multi-function critical care ventilators there and in Bothell, Washington, to continue to meet demand for ventilators as the COVID-19 pandemic roars on.

Ventec’s monthly ventilator production increased by 80 times during the pandemic, the compan…

Report: Ventilators are piling up in government stockpiles

(Image courtesy of Ventec)

As the COVID-19 pandemic roars on, the government stockpile of once-in-demand ventilators has reportedly turned into a collection of unused devices.

The Washington Post reports that, following the panic caused by an anticipated ventilator shortage and subsequent rush to add to the stockpile after President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, the approach to treating COVID-19 changed and continued efforts to produce ventilators may come too late.

According to the report, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it distributed 15,057 ventilators as of last Friday, with 95,713 ventilators remaining in the stockpile, among which 94,352 had come from contracts signed since the pandemic began.

When the pandemic began, ventilators were highly sought after, but, more than five months in, The Washington Post said medical experts claim intubation for COVID-1…

Ventec to take over ventilator production at GM plant

(Image courtesy of Ventec)

Ventec Life Systems and General Motors have delivered more than 20,000 ventilators they built together at a GM plant, and GM plans to turn over production to the medtech company once their federal contract is completed, Ventec announced this week.

Production of Ventec’s V+Pro critical care ventilators at the Kokomo, Ind., GM plant began in April, with delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile to help COVID-19 patients. GM and Ventec have a $489.4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ship 30,000 machines by the end of August.

As demand for critical care ventilators continues with the spread of COVID-19, GM has agreed to hand off control of production at the Kokomo plant to Ventec, which said it will continue expanded production at its headquarters in Bothell, Wash.

“During this pandemic, ven…

GM receives N95 certification for Michigan-made respirators

General Motors (NYSE:GM) announced today that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has provided an N95-level certification for the respirators the automaker is churning out of its Warren, Mich. plant.

NIOSH, which is part of the CDC, created the new certification process in order to increase the supply of filtering facepiece respirators needed to protect healthcare workers and others amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to GM.

A respirator, according to GM, gets a 95 rating when it filters out at least 95% of airborne particles during “worst-case” testing using a “most-penetrating” sized particle.

To achieve a tight seal around a user’s face required an entirely new manufacturing process — with GM repurposing sonic welders from its Brownstown Battery Assembly plant to expedite the process.

As with face masks, GM will donate some of the N95 respirators to frontline workers. So far, the Warren faci…