The known wearables and smart products maker, Fitbit, has its upcoming ventilator receive an emergency approval from the FDA. The US government’s Food and Drug Administration has given Fitbit an Emergency Use Authorization for its Flow ventilators, which will be used to help patients with COVID-19 infection.

At the moment, the US government is reportedly “in talks” with Fitbit to supply its Flow ventilator units. For those unaware, Flow is a ventilator built with advanced sensors and alert systems that features a simple user interface and is easy to operate. This would eliminate the need for specialized training and is also built to target “lower price range” or cost effective emergency ventilators.

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Fitbit is confident in its production capabilities, stating that it will have an advantage in activity tracking since it is a known smart product manufacturer. However, the company still has a few hurdles to tackle, with the primary one being a customer base. It needs to find customers to sell to since its arrival to the market is relatively late. Furthermore, the demand for this ventilator is also uncertain as another wave of COVID-19 occurring is unknown as well. As it stands right now, the Flow could be crucial in key areas, but only if the situation demands it.

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Taiwan-based Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract manufacturer better known for making Apple iPhones, has announced that the company will be making ventilators with U.S. firm Medtronic Plc to help patients afflicted by the coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, the company says that it is currently cooperating with Medtronic to design and develop ventilators, and added that medical and technical personnel from both firms are working closely on this.

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Medtronic Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak has said that Foxconn’s Wisconsin plant would be used to make the ventilators. Both the companies are trying to speed up production time so the ventilators can be put to work as soon as possible.

There has been a critical shortage of supply globally for ventilators needed in the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19. Foxconn has been making face masks, used to curb the spread of the virus, in China since February and its subsidiary Sharp has also began making them in Japan since last month.

The development of Foxconn making ventilators comes about a week after Ford Motor Co said that it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at its plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit. The company also added that it can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients.

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