Covid-19: Fitbit responds to the pandemic by developing a ventilator

A number of tech companies have stepped up to re-route some of their production and supply capacity to the manufacture of necessary kit related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fitbit is one of the latest of these OEMs, having developed a ventilator of its own specifically for use when combatting this virus in a healthcare setting.

The company has announced that this new device has been sent to the FDA to get it approved for use. It has also noted that it has used its own supply chain to get to this point, and will engage a Taiwanese vendor with which it has a prior relationship in order to ship them

Then again, Fitbit has collaborated with doctors from leading US research centers, including Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the Massachusetts General Brigham group, in the making of this new product. The OEM projects that it will fall "somewhere in the middle" in terms of ventilator "specs", whereas most of those intended for Covid-19 treatment are utilitarian and thus relatively 'low-end'.

Despite all these details, however, the popular wearables brand has yet to settle on a unit price for one of these new devices. It should be noted that some healthcare professionals reportedly consider ventilators of limited use in treating the respiratory condition caused by the virus; nonetheless, Fitbit appears to view the project as a useful contingency in the event of a "second wave" in this current pandemic.