MIT is actually one of the most expensive places to make anything! We have significant overhead. It would in fact be cheaper to go off campus. What we are trying to for a certain class of devices, is to create the tools so others can create things for themselves, safely, in a repeatable manner, and in a way that is tailored to their own needs. Sometimes that means that person can come up with something they can scale (and then they will then have to go through the normal FDA route). And sometimes that means they can solve the problem for their n=1 market.
Hi Okian Warrior
We're actually very interested in the avionics field---the FAA has a whole, what seems to be fairly mature department for home built aircraft https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/g...
In the medical world, there's no such thing. Of course, if you are SELLING stuff, that's when things get FDA oversight discretion. However, when you are making your own (like the inventor of angioplasty balloons) there is no such things.
We don't have all the answers, that's why we are learning, and opening up questions and technologies that allow us to explore these things.
Jose
Hi ColdWetDog,
You're right, the nebulizer is a like the facepalm example of simplicity. We're not claiming this is the technical glory. For that I can go down the street and hang out with my friends that work on plasma fusion. A major point of our work is to show that this is often *not* rocket science. (In the case of the actual nebulization cup that you can buy here http://www.directhomemedical.c... or lots of other places, there IS some cool fluid dynamics going on that some engineer way back when considered and designed before our time). What happens to us is a lot of people think the compressor is the nebulizer (it isn't). It's just a compressor. By giving people lots of choices of how to push air, they can understand that's what's going on. Of course, you have to test these things and validate that what you are doing isn't causing harm. So we shoot lasers through the mist using something called a Spraytech diffraction system that shows us that the size of the particles coming out of the DIY pumps (bike, fish tank, bike tire, etc) are just as good as the ones out of a Pari LC (the 510k FDA proxy). So the next time a nurse tells us the "nebulizer is broken" and points to the big beige box, he can be more knowledgeable about what's going on. And the next time the hospital tries to bill a ridiculous amount for some of the consumables, patients can be more informed.
I do appreciate your perspective and I'm also hear to learn what people out there think and want to do themselves.
Jose
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MIT is actually one of the most expensive places to make anything! We have significant overhead. It would in fact be cheaper to go off campus. What we are trying to for a certain class of devices, is to create the tools so others can create things for themselves, safely, in a repeatable manner, and in a way that is tailored to their own needs. Sometimes that means that person can come up with something they can scale (and then they will then have to go through the normal FDA route). And sometimes that means they can solve the problem for their n=1 market.
Hi Okian Warrior We're actually very interested in the avionics field---the FAA has a whole, what seems to be fairly mature department for home built aircraft https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/g... In the medical world, there's no such thing. Of course, if you are SELLING stuff, that's when things get FDA oversight discretion. However, when you are making your own (like the inventor of angioplasty balloons) there is no such things. We don't have all the answers, that's why we are learning, and opening up questions and technologies that allow us to explore these things. Jose
Hi ColdWetDog, You're right, the nebulizer is a like the facepalm example of simplicity. We're not claiming this is the technical glory. For that I can go down the street and hang out with my friends that work on plasma fusion. A major point of our work is to show that this is often *not* rocket science. (In the case of the actual nebulization cup that you can buy here http://www.directhomemedical.c... or lots of other places, there IS some cool fluid dynamics going on that some engineer way back when considered and designed before our time). What happens to us is a lot of people think the compressor is the nebulizer (it isn't). It's just a compressor. By giving people lots of choices of how to push air, they can understand that's what's going on. Of course, you have to test these things and validate that what you are doing isn't causing harm. So we shoot lasers through the mist using something called a Spraytech diffraction system that shows us that the size of the particles coming out of the DIY pumps (bike, fish tank, bike tire, etc) are just as good as the ones out of a Pari LC (the 510k FDA proxy). So the next time a nurse tells us the "nebulizer is broken" and points to the big beige box, he can be more knowledgeable about what's going on. And the next time the hospital tries to bill a ridiculous amount for some of the consumables, patients can be more informed. I do appreciate your perspective and I'm also hear to learn what people out there think and want to do themselves. Jose