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# NASA Ventilator Gains Emergency Use Authorization
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/nasa-ventilator-gains-emergency-use-authorization/
- Published: 2020-04-30T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:13:14.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Devices, #legacy-id-D5146696

FDA has granted an emergency use authorization for a new high-pressure ventilator developed by NASA engineers for treating coronavirus patients. The device, called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) was developed by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA, is offering a [free license](https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2791871-1&h=2072166623&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedeng.jpl.nasa.gov%2Fcovid-19%2Fventilator%2F&a=free+license&mod=article%5Finline&ref=fdaweb.com) for VITAL and is seeking commercial medical companies to manufacturer the device, NASA says.

VITAL can be built faster and maintained more easily than a traditional ventilator, and is composed of far fewer parts, many of which are currently available to potential manufacturers through existing supply chains, NASA says. “Its flexible design means it also can be modified for use in field hospitals being set up in convention centers, hotels and other high-capacity facilities across the country and around the globe,” it says. The device is intended to last three or four months, and does not replace current hospital ventilators, which can last years and are built to address a broader range of medical issues.