3D Printing Comes To The Rescue Of Doctors Fighting COVID-19 Amid PPE Shortage
From Italy to Spain to the US to India, 3D printing firms are supplying doctors with gears and pieces of equipment using 3D printers amid a huge shortage.
The world is gripped by the fear of the novel coronavirus which has claimed over 95,000 lives across the globe. Healthcare professionals are working round the clock and many without adequate PPE kits, putting their lives at risk.
Over 50 doctors in India have contracted the Wuhan-originated virus due to an acute shortage of safety gears. To fill the gap of shortage of PPE kits, the 3D printing industry has stepped up to meet the daunting challenge.
From Italy to Spain to the US to India, 3D printing firms are supplying healthcare workers with gears and pieces of equipment amid a huge shortage.
3D printing is a process in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with the material being added together (such as liquid molecules or powder grains being fused together)
typically layer by layer.
3D printing cuts the production time of PPEs and is cheap to produce due to the low cost of the material required.
In Chennai, small 3D printing firms are making face shields for the doctors and medical professionals as a substitute for masks, which have a short lifeline. They are providing the hospitals with two types of face shields, one is disposable and the other can be sanitised and reused.
In Italy, the worst affected country in Europe, healthcare professionals converted full-face snorkel masks into a ventilator using 3D printed valves.
In Spain, another European battered by COVID-19, hospitals are adapting snorkel masks with 3D printed adapters for use as PPE. These connectors make it possible to include filters in the entry/exit of the mask to filter the air of both the user and surroundings while isolating the whole face.
The only problem currently faced by the booming 3D printing industry is that none of their medical products have a quality benchmark and thus cannot be sold in markets or recommended for wider use.
Over 50 doctors in India have contracted the Wuhan-originated virus due to an acute shortage of safety gears. To fill the gap of shortage of PPE kits, the 3D printing industry has stepped up to meet the daunting challenge.
From Italy to Spain to the US to India, 3D printing firms are supplying healthcare workers with gears and pieces of equipment amid a huge shortage.
Hospitals are adapting snorkel masks with #3Dprinted adapters for use as PPE. These connectors make it possible to include filters in the entry/exit of the mask to filter the air of both the user and surroundings, while isolating the whole face. https://t.co/AFUX0Mm3b2 pic.twitter.com/KH7kDUykbp
— Formlabs (@formlabs) April 9, 2020
3D printing is a process in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with the material being added together (such as liquid molecules or powder grains being fused together)
typically layer by layer.
3D printing cuts the production time of PPEs and is cheap to produce due to the low cost of the material required.
In Chennai, small 3D printing firms are making face shields for the doctors and medical professionals as a substitute for masks, which have a short lifeline. They are providing the hospitals with two types of face shields, one is disposable and the other can be sanitised and reused.
In Italy, the worst affected country in Europe, healthcare professionals converted full-face snorkel masks into a ventilator using 3D printed valves.
In Spain, another European battered by COVID-19, hospitals are adapting snorkel masks with 3D printed adapters for use as PPE. These connectors make it possible to include filters in the entry/exit of the mask to filter the air of both the user and surroundings while isolating the whole face.
The only problem currently faced by the booming 3D printing industry is that none of their medical products have a quality benchmark and thus cannot be sold in markets or recommended for wider use.
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