This article is from WeChat public account: Big Data Digest (ID: BigDataDigest) , author: Austria vi Ah, cattle Wan Yang, title figure: 3D Printing Media

Outbreak storms are hitting the globe.

In addition to the shortage of masks and protective clothing, Italy and other countries, which are in the epidemic period of severe outbreak, also urgently need a medical device-ventilator.

Because many suppliers are unable to supply replacement valves on the ventilator within a short period of time, a local company started to provide 3D printed valves and opened an online docking platform, calling for more 3D printing companies to meet hospital needs and successfully organized printing production. Hundreds of urgently needed medical parts have saved countless patients’ lives.

Despite the epidemic, human lives matter. However, this “timely rain” is likely to face the risk of being sued by the original factory. This incident caused a lot of controversy. At the moment of life and death, because the patent problem technology could not exert its value, netizens directly cried, could it be the Italian version of “I am not a medicine god”?

A local Italian 3D printing company is in danger of printing

Because there are no effective drugs, The biggest problem facing patients with coronavirus is the need for intensive care and oxygen input , so that they can survive the infection long enough to wait for antibodies to fight the infection. This means that the ventilator is the only way to save lives at this time.

This is why, from Ferrari to Tesla, many car companies started producing ventilators during the epidemic.

The ventilator mask at the Italian hospital uses a venturi oxygen mask. These are low flow masks, the key component of which is the Venturi valve. When pure oxygen is transported through the small orifice, Bernoulli’s principle is used to take away the indoor air, thereby generating a larger total flow with a predictable FIO 2 the amount.

This kind of valve is a consumable and needs to be replaced every eight hours. However, a large number of patients entering the hospital lead to insufficient supply of equipment and put a large number of patients at risk.

On March 13, a local hospital in Chiari, in the province of Brescia, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, fell into a state of exhaustion of ventilator valves, and the lives of many patients were threatened.

In an emergency, they contacted Isinnova, a 3D printing company, hoping to use their printing technology to help.

Isinnova founder and CEO Cristian Fracassi quickly responded to this need, taking the 3D printer directly to the hospital, redesigning and starting production in just a few hours.

Because there is no such experience at all, the first few attempts were unsuccessful. Although the valve looks like a simple piece of plastic, it is very complicated, with oxygen diffusing holes less than a millimeter in diameter.

After many attempts, the company finally made it. They gave the valve to a doctor for testing. The test results showed that it was really usable.

The production cost of a valve through 3D printing is less than 1 Euro, which is far from the original selling price. On the evening of March 14th, 10 patients had used ventilators with 3D printed valves.

On the left is the original breathing valve, and on the right is a 3D printed version

Cristian Percassi told Reuters: “When we heard about the shortage, we immediately contacted the hospital. We printed 100 valves and I delivered them to the hospital myself.”

Part models are protected by copyright and patents, and 3D printing is at risk of prosecution

The incident of 3D printing valves has caused great concern. After being reported by the media, Isinnova founder Cristian Percassi received hundreds of requests for related supply.

This allowed Cristian Percassi to fall quickly from his initial sense of accomplishment into despair, he simply couldn’t meet everyone’s needs. In a video, he explained in Italian why STL files are not currently shared:

First of all, printing such extremely precise and complicated parts requires high-end powder bed fusion machines, which are very limited in his company;

Second, although the hospital has the right to produce these parts in such an emergency situation, the problem that needs to be faced is that the parts models are still protected by copyright and patents, and the hospital needs to make a formal request to legally obtain the STL file.

As of press time, relevant patent manufacturers still have not released details of breathing valves, and have not published patents.

“The correct way is to confirm with the official manufacturer first. If the valve is unavailable, you can only contact the 3D printing service provider and make a copy in an emergency situation, otherwise it is very easy to face the risk of prosecution. “

Without a patent, it is not possible to produce a breathing valve. In a hurry, Cristian Fracassi did not give up, and he began to take a different approach. On March 21st, the Isinnova team successfully developed and tested a 3D printing adapter that can turn a ventilation mask into a non-invasive ventilator, bypassing the patent for a breathing valve, and directly used for COVID-19 patients. If possible, anyone can use 3D printers to print, helping hospitals reduce the burden on equipment resources.

Finally, Cristian Fracassi, the founder of Isinnova, also said that he has not received any indictment and understands the manufacturer’s decision.

Global Relay, Technicians Start Online Hackathon

Cristian Fracassi ’s story has inspired a lot of techies. Several technology companies approached him and offered to assist him with the hospital. He also found that the strength of a person is very limited, and the technical forces of all parties and the hospital need a place to complete the matching of needs.

With the warm response from all parties, a global online hackathon (hackthon) -“Emergency AM Forum” was born Already. Hospital, AMCompanies and manufacturers can share ideas here and unite together to fight the epidemic. Medical staff who urgently need 3D printing for help can leave a place and other information on the forum. If you own a 3D printer or operate a 3D printing service, you are also welcome to join the forum leave a message.

Forum: https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/3d-printing-unite-for-covid-19/

Several designers and engineers have begun to match needs and create 3D printable models. Although 3D printing any medical product such as (especially Venturi valve) , both copyright and medical issues need to be considered , But this situation shows that using 3D printable copies is fast and efficient.

GrabCAD user Filip Kober has now created a model and, together with a partner of another 3D printing company Shapemode, 3D printed a breathing valve using high-precision stereolithography. Make this 3D model publicly available for free on the Internet.

In addition to Italy, American medical staff and technicians have also begun to crowdsource repairs online and provide important medical equipment. On March 19, Dr. Peter Slavin, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, called on people to use 3D printers to make protective masks for hospital staff.

Doctors, hospital technicians, and 3D printing experts are also using Google Docs, WhatsApp groups, and online databases to exchange recommendations on equipment for manufacturing, installing, and retrofitting ventilators to help treat an increasing number of new crown patients.

A 3D printing company called Prusa Research in the Czech RepublicAccording to their blog, they have submitted a prototype of a 3D printed mask to the country’s Ministry of Health. The founder of Prusa Research said: “We learned from Facebook that doctors are in great need of masks, so we moved quickly and started experimenting with 3D printing.”

Prusa Research presents prototype masks to Czech Minister of Health Adam Vojtech

In three days, their mask prototypes were verified twice by the Czech Ministry of Health and successfully passed the test. They started production of prototypes from the 18th. At the same time, its founder said that when this design is successful, they will start designing protective glasses.

From China to overseas, there has been no shortage of new technologies in the epidemic, and the people who have promoted all this since then are fighting against the virus against their clock in their own way.

Reference:

https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/covid-19-3d-printed-valve-for-reanimation-device/

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/worldwide-hackathon-hospitals-turn-crowdsourcing-3d-printing-amid-equipment-shortages-n1165026 span>

This article is from WeChat public account: Abstract big data (ID: BigDataDigest) , author: Austria vi Ah, bovine Wan Yang