YOU CAN BUILD AN ICU VENTILATOR THAT RUNS ON A RASPBERRY PI, FOR ABOUT 1,750 DOLLARS IN PARTS
An ICU ventilator you can build from scratch for 1,750 dollars in parts, designed to rely as little as possible on specialized medical hardware.
HealthOpen-hardware
Built withRaspberry Pi3D printing
- difficulty
- ●●●●●
- time
- several weeks
- license
- GPL-3.0
- repo
- repo FINISHED15 stars
●●●●● · several weeks · GPL-3.0 · 15 stars · repo FINISHED
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
This is a pressure-controlled ventilator built from commodity parts: a Raspberry Pi, aluminium extrusion, a proportional inspiratory valve, an expiratory solenoid valve, two custom sensor/actuator boards and 3D-printed brackets. It supports pressure-control ventilation, detection of spontaneous breaths and key alarms specified by regulators such as high airway pressure, following the FDA Emergency Use Authorization design criteria. The published BOM totals 1,753.57 dollars with the screen and accessories; the paper notes that even lower-end open ventilators sell for about 10,000 dollars. The documentation is complete: CAD files, assembly instructions, board designs, software and a BOM with purchase links. The single biggest barrier is not technical — it is regulatory and ethical. The team states plainly that PVP1 is not a regulated or clinically validated medical device. You cannot legally or responsibly use this on a patient without regulatory approval. If you are building for research, testing or education in a lab setting, the documentation will carry you through. If you are imagining emergency deployment, stop: you will need a 50 psi pre-blended air/oxygen supply, clinical expertise and a regulatory pathway that this project does not provide.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —Full mechanical CAD (STL, DXF, STEP, Solidworks), complete assembly instructions, two PCB designs with schematics, Python control software and a detailed BOM with supplier links are all in the repository.
- —GPL-3.0 licence allows commercial use but requires derivative works to remain open-source.
- —OSHWA certified (US002073).
- —Requires a pressurised air/oxygen supply — this is not standalone emergency equipment.
- —The team explicitly states: 'PVP1 is not a regulated or clinically validated medical device... recommended only for research purposes.' This is not a path to clinical deployment without regulatory work.
- —Published testing data (PLOS ONE 2022) shows 75,000 stable breath cycles over three days on an adult test lung and comparative testing against a commercial Servo-i in a pediatric setting.
Parts to buy
10 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
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Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the paper (PLOS ONE 2022, DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0266810) to understand what the device does and does not do (This is not optional — the paper explains the validation, limitations and regulatory status.)
- 2.Review the full BOM in the repository and confirm you can source the proportional valves and pressure sensors(The BOM has purchase links; some components (especially valves) may have lead times or supplier changes.)
- 3.Order PCB fabrication for the two custom boards (design files in /assets/pcbs)(Use a service like JLCPCB or OSH Park; expect 1-2 weeks for delivery.)
- 4.Print the mechanical components from the /assets/STLs folder while waiting for PCBs(PLA or PETG; brackets and valve mounts are not highly stressed.)
- 5.Follow the assembly guide in /docs once all parts arrive (The guide is detailed but assumes mechanical and electronics competence.)
- 6.Set up the Raspberry Pi software from /software and calibrate sensors before any testing(Python-based; requires Raspbian setup and library installation.)
KNOWN ISSUES
- The most common mistake is thinking 'open-source medical device' means you can use it clinically. You cannot, legally or ethically, without regulatory approval — and that pathway is not in the repository.
- The device requires a pressurised air/oxygen supply at clinical pressure. This is not a standalone unit; you need hospital-grade gas or equivalent.
- The inspiratory proportional valve is the most critical component. If you substitute a cheaper alternative without understanding its pressure/flow curve, the ventilator will not perform as validated.
- PCB assembly requires intermediate soldering skills. The pressure sensor interfaces are not plug-and-play; you will debug analog signals.
- Calibration is not automatic. The software assumes you will tune PID parameters and sensor offsets on a test lung before any meaningful operation.
- The repository is research-grade documentation, not consumer instructions. If you have never built a pneumatic control system or debugged embedded Python, this will be a steep learning curve.
Can I use this in an emergency?
No. The team states explicitly that PVP1 is not a regulated medical device and is recommended only for research. Clinical use without regulatory approval is illegal and dangerous.
What is the pressurised air/oxygen supply requirement?
It needs a continuous supply of pre-blended oxygen/medical air at hospital pressure (rated for 50 psi), typically from a hospital gas blender. It does not generate its own airflow.
How long does the build take?
The paper says one person can build it in a few days once all parts are in hand. Lead times for the custom PCBs and valves, plus software setup and testing on a test lung, are what stretch it to weeks.
Can I modify the design?
Yes, the GPL-3.0 licence allows modification, but any derivative work must also be open-source under GPL-3.0. Commercial use is allowed under the same terms.
What is the most likely thing to break?
The project does not publish a wear or lifetime figure. The paper reports stable performance over at least 75,000 breath cycles in three days and more than 300 hours of continuous running without alarms or failures; the valves are the moving parts to watch.
Community builds
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Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
About 1,750 dollars in parts at October 2020 prices, a peer-reviewed paper, and 75,000 test breaths — but the documentation is clear this is research-only, not a path to clinical use. If you were building one, what would you use it to study?
Julienne LaChance, Manuel Schottdorf, Tom J. Zajdel, Jonny L. Saunders, Sophie Dvali, Chase Marshall, Lorenzo Seirup, Ibrahim Sammour, Robert L. Chatburn, Daniel A. Notterman, Daniel J. Cohen
The Cohen Lab at Princeton University developed PVP1 during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to ventilator shortages. The design goal was to create a functional ICU ventilator from non-specialized parts that could be sourced globally, with full documentation to enable local fabrication. The team published validation data in PLOS ONE and released the entire project as open hardware.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM14d agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: the project is unusually complete for a medical device — 3D-printable parts as STLs, laser-cut enclosure panels as DXFs, sensor and actuator PCB designs, a full bill of materials with supplier links, a step-by-step assembly guide, and a peer-reviewed paper in PLOS ONE (2022). The paper reports stable performance over at least 75,000 breath cycles across three days on an adult mechanical test lung, which is more rigorous than most open-hardware projects ever reach. The single biggest thing to understand before you start is that open-source does not mean ready to deploy: the documentation states plainly that PVP1 is not a regulated or clinically validated medical device and is recommended only for research. It also does not make its own airflow — a proportional valve meters gas from an external pressurised source, and oxygen fraction is set by an external blender. If you are building for a lab, this is one of the most thoroughly documented open medical devices we have seen. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.