(ANGOLA) – Trine University is doing their part to try and make a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials say teams of Trine faculty and staff members from Trine innovation 1 have been working under the direction of Parkview Health to develop devices that provide alternatives to equipment in limited supply, such as ventilators and N95 respirator masks.

One team has developed a machine that can automatically pump a manual resuscitator, serving as a replacement for a ventilator, if needed. A second team is working on prototypes for a hard-shell mask that could be sterilized, with a replaceable respirator filter, thus increasing its lifespan.

Parkview reached out to many area institutions to see what resources are available to address an expected increase in patients with COVID-19. Parkview has assigned projects to its various innovation teams, based on the resources each has available. The manual resuscitator and respirator mask were both assigned to Trine because of the University's ability to develop solutions and prototypes quickly.

Once the teams work has been validated, Parkview will contact the Food and Drug Administration to see if the projects can be fast tracked into production. When that happens, the Trine groups will begin working on other projects.