Posts tagged: AM in the time of COVID-19AM IndustryMedical

Prisma Health is collaborating with Ethicon Inc., part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, to make and distribute a ventilator expansion device, called the VESper™ Ventilator Expansion Splitter. The VESper Ventilator Expansion Splitter is authorized for emergency use only to allow a single ventilator to be fitted with the Ventilator Splitter to be used for two rescuable patients for ventilatory support during the COVID-19 pandemic until individual ventilators are available.

Our friends at Polish 3D printing media portal CentrumDruku3D reported on the story of – and introduced us – to Przemysław Stachura, who came up with the design of a 3D printed adapter for DAR filter to transform a 3M mask into a special type of PPE. The model [available here to download] quickly caught the attention of paramedics in Poland and other nations, who expressed a desire to test and use it

COVID-19 is a high infectivity virus that is mainly transmitted through droplets released into the air by coughing or sneezing. To prevent infection in highly contaminated hospital environments, medical workers who are in close contact with patients must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, and respiratory systems to prevent infections transmitted through the nose and mouth. In addition to the safety PPE equipment listed above, other critical protection equipment are safety goggles. These are just as important as masks in protecting medical personnel against infection.

The alliance (which our Spanish language sister website reported on just a few days ago) between the Consorci de la Zona Franca (CZFB), HP, Leitat (Technological Center) together with CatSalut, through the Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa (CST) and the Hospital Parc Taulí de Sabadell, have developed the first industrialized field 3D printed emergency respiration device* to support hospitals and ICUs. The device is a mechanical bag valve mask (BVM) that can be used for short term emergency ventilation of COVID-19 patients.

Many have been asking what the implications of the current COVID-19 pandemic are going to be on additive manufacturing as an industry. The relationship between coronavirus and 3D printing is not entirely clear, mostly because we are very far from understanding what the long, medium and even short terms implications of the pandemic are going to be on global supply chains.