Non-invasive ventilators like BPAP and CPAP machines push pressurized air into the lungs from outside the body. They aren't life-support devices, and usually cost less than $1,000.

CPAP machines contain many of the same elements found in ventilators, including computer controlled blowers, pressure sensors, humidification and sometimes more, such as oxygen saturation inputs.

Frank Schleibach, head physician of anesthesiology, shows a ventilator in the Viersen General Hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on March 20. Roland Weihrauch/Getty Images ...

Our first product, nHale™, a non-invasive ventilator, was conceived, built, and obtained Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA within 90 days to treat patients suffering from COVID-19.

Before the ventilator is started, a small cuff around the tube is inflated to prevent particles from escaping. Once it's on, the machine gently pumps highly oxygenated air at a steady rate ...

Carrie Benton said Chip Benton started using a CPAP machine, but now needs a non-invasive ventilator at home. They thought they had one until the manufacturer, Philips, recalled the machine in June.

New York-based hospital system Northwell Health figured out how to turn a BiPAP machine, used for sleep apnea, into a ventilator using a 3D printer and filter add-on.

Wisconsin hospitals had 319 of the state’s 1,253 ventilators in use as of Sunday, according to the state Department of Health Services. In southeast Wisconsin, 197 of 511 ventilators were in use.