
Ask HN: Where to find specifications for pressure for an Iron Lung - lcuff
The Pandemic Ventilator project aims to build a positive airflow ventilator.  It occurs to me that it might be much easier to do a modern DIY iron lung. Modern implying digital control. As I assess feasibility, the range of air pressure required has so far eluded my Googling.  Pointers?  Ideas? Thoughts?
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allovernow
Iron lungs require industrial infrastructure to construct. They much resist
the pressure of atmosphere over a large surface. I think they've been made
obsolete by other tech.

But you need to isolate the pressure around the body from the neck down. For
such an enclosure you can use modern materials with high tensile strength like
fiberglass but you need to mold them in a sealed manner on a large scale. Very
impractical to do in a garage without experience and tools for laying
fiberglass matting, or welding in the case of steel or aluminum, which are too
heavy to be practical in a home I think

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lcuff
I was moved to think about the possibility by this article
[http://blog.modernmechanix.com/diy-iron-
lung/](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/diy-iron-lung/) describing a 1952
article in Popular Mechanics building a wooden iron lung. This approach is
clearly feasible in a garage workshop.

