On the ventilator industry

In the last decade, there is tremendous awareness amongst the practicing physicians regarding management of critically ill patients. As a result of this, hospitals are investing in critical care units. As mechanical ventilation is the mainstay of treatment, the need of ventilators is ever growing. The need will grow further as more hospitals are coming up in smaller towns.

On trends

Basically ventilators can be divided into two groups: Invasive and Non-invasive. Invasive ventilators are usually used in ICUs whereas non-invasive ones are portable and can be used in a hospital setting or at home.

Essentially, the basic modes incorporated in the ventilators are same except one or two. Sometimes, the same mode may be named differently because of patents.

Some of the new modes of ventilation are neurally adjusted ventilator assist (NAVA), high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), auto-mode, and the like. Some companies incorporate delivery of nitric oxide or mixture of helium and oxygen in various conditions to help the patient tide over the crisis.

On main suppliers

There are various companies which supply ventilators. The major ones are Maquet, Datex Ohmeda, Puritan Bennett, Versamed, and Newport.

On desired features

The modern ventilators are very sophisticated and sensitive. Many of them have graphic display of waveforms which is essential in today's practice. Also, they display other parameters in numeric along with trends over a period of time with facility to print them. According to me, Servo-i ventilator by Maquet is the Gold Standard.

On advice to buyers

There are many ventilators available as a base model which has all the basic modes. As newer modes or additional features are added, the cost goes up. When you are buying a ventilator, keep following things in mind: the machine should be sturdy, user-friendly, have trolley, audio and visual alarms, and one must know the basic maintenance. The person using the machine should be well-versed with the machine.

On challenges

Training the man behind the machine is very important. The need for after-sales service and availability of spares are equally important. The manufacturers should help the buyers during purchase, taking into consideration the needs of a particular setup. One needs to consider the cost of the ventilator also.

On obsolescence and threats

As such, there are not many threats. Non-invasive machines with newer modes to help better coordination between the patient and ventilator are expected. But, this is going to be improvement rather than threat.

On after-sales services

Most of them have a decent after-sales service. The problem is for smaller towns and cities, where there may be delay in reaching the customer.

On key driving factors

We see a lot of patients with trauma; elderly people, high risk patients undergoing major surgeries, immuno-compromised patients, and cancer patients form a sizeable number whose care may require ICU setting. Also, newer hospitals coming up will have major demand of ventilators. This market has tremendous potential.