Yorkville Sound partners with StarFish Medical to produce ventilators

TORONTO — Yorkville Sound, manufacturer of Canada’s famous Traynor guitar (and other musical instrument) amps and PA systems, is turning its engineering and manufacturing expertise to the production of ventilators aimed at the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manufacturer, based in Pickering, Ont., is partnering with StarFish Medical, a designer and contract manufacturer of medical devices based in Victoria, BC, to develop an open-source ventilator.

“We’re providing circuit-board design and layout, as well as the assembly of the control panel for the ventilator project,” said Steve Long, Yorkville Sound’s president.

“What better contributor to a Canadian emergency ventilator program than Yorkville Sound, whose manufacturing and production ingenuity established them at the top of the music and professional sound industry,” said John Walmsley, executive vice-president of strategic relationships at StarFish Medical.

The ventilator project was inspired by The Winnipeg Ventilator, a project designed for ICU use and among the easiest in the world to bring into high-volume production.

Yorkville Sound, also a provider of installed audio systems and accessories, employs more than 220 people in a 150,000 square-foot facility in Pickering. It’s also an importer and distributor of musical and pro audio products.

StarFish Medical is a full service medical device design company with manufacturing services in Toronto and Victoria.