A negative pressure breathing apparatus developed by a Turkish company in central Anatolia aims to allow home treatment for patients suffering from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and lung diseases, as the global COVID-19 pandemic has made ventilators indispensable tools of treatment.

R&D and innovation company Promech, operating in the InnoPark Technology Development Zone in Konya province, rolled out the Rievent, a negative pressure ventilator, in just six months with the support of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBITAK).

Besides allowing patients to breathe comfortably, the device also features a Turkish language menu for its users.

Selçuk Ateş, the project manager at Promech, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the device did not require any professional expertise to be used and was designed to be accessible to everyone.

He said the product passed all tests and was now at the certification stage.

Ateş explained that at the beginning of the pandemic, the air sacs, also known as alveoli, in the lungs of COVID-19 patients who were put on ventilators were hardening and bursting, causing pneumonia.

"This device eliminates the risk of pneumonia because it allows patients to take in as much air as their breathing capacity," he said, adding that the firm was trying to make Rievent more ergonomic.

"It's completely a product of local engineering. Its design, software and pattern were made by our company."

He stated the company was successful in tests conducted on 20 volunteers. "When the patient starts to breathe normally, the device automatically stops," Ateş said.

Underlining that mass production was scheduled to start in three months, he said the company would manufacture 100 units per month.

Ateş noted that the product would fit the needs of 15 million patients in Turkey. "We aim to reduce the load on hospitals' intensive care units. The cost of their imports is very high. We want to contribute to the country's economy by pulling them [costs] down."