Hospitals Turn To Crowdsourcing and 3D Printing Amid Equipment Shortages (nbcnews.com) 27
With medical supplies strained by the coronavirus outbreak, health care professionals and technologists are coming together online to crowdsource repairs and supplies of critical hospital equipment. From a report: Doctors, hospital technicians and 3D-printing specialists are also using Google Docs, WhatsApp groups and online databases to trade tips for building, fixing and modifying machines like ventilators to help treat the rising number of patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The efforts come as supply shortages loom in one of the biggest challenges for health care systems around the world. "We have millions of health care workers around this country who are prepared to do battle against this virus, but I am concerned there are a couple of areas of supplies they need to fight that virus as effectively as possible," Dr. Peter Slavin, president of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told NBC News, noting that protective equipment, including surgical masks and eye protection, was in particularly short supply. "We wouldn't want to send soldiers to war without helmets and armor," he said. "We don't want to do the same with our health care workers."
The American Hospital Association says COVID-19 could require the hospitalization of 4.8 million patients, 960,000 of whom would need ventilators. As the demand for the equipment surges, making timely repairs will be critical to saving lives. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Friday that the city could run out of basic medical supplies in as little as two weeks. 3D printing, a relatively new and niche technology that can create everything from houses to tiny and complex structures from raw materials, has remained mostly on the fringes of the manufacturing and health care sectors. But the coronavirus has suddenly made it a crucial resource. On Thursday, Slavin called on people with 3D printers to help make protective masks for hospital staff.
The American Hospital Association says COVID-19 could require the hospitalization of 4.8 million patients, 960,000 of whom would need ventilators. As the demand for the equipment surges, making timely repairs will be critical to saving lives. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Friday that the city could run out of basic medical supplies in as little as two weeks. 3D printing, a relatively new and niche technology that can create everything from houses to tiny and complex structures from raw materials, has remained mostly on the fringes of the manufacturing and health care sectors. But the coronavirus has suddenly made it a crucial resource. On Thursday, Slavin called on people with 3D printers to help make protective masks for hospital staff.
This leads to a long-term good (Score:5, Interesting)
In a large-scale emergency, the medical system is being forced to accept input from sources external to the regulated system. This will evolve into a new, more financially viable form of right-to-try: rather than being restricted to patients who are about to die and treatments already in the official pipeline, all patients will be able to opt to assume risk for treatments and devices outside the formal standard of care in situations where the official system is overloaded.
and right-to-try = pay $200K-$500K to try (Score:2)
and right-to-try = pay $200K-$500K to try
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You mean right-to-die-or-get-maimed, there are reasons medical gear has standards and ratings. You want to bring back the snake oil salesmen.
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To be followed shortly by the right to be sued when something screws up.
Not just that - sewing masks too! (Score:3)
There's also an army of people sewing masks for healthcare workers too! Almost as cool as 3-D printing ventilator parts.
The great thing is while the seven covers are not quite as effective as real masks, they can be used as a cover over "real" mask so that you can reuse the mask and just replace the covers. But even without a mask under it, a simple cotton mask still provides a ton of protection - in large part because it prevents you from touching your mouth.
If you are thinking about doing this, make masks with no wires or elastic, just fabric ties - that's what a nurse recommended, since both wires and elastic degrade badly in repeated hot washes with bleach.
You can look around for local groups to help figure out where to distribute the masks.
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I question the efficacy of a fabric sewn mask. Fabric is a poor filter even for dust, which is a huge particle. I doubt that using fabric for a cover allows a mask to be reused. The fabric is just going to pass through almost everything. The mask will get just as dirty as if the fabric was not there.
For the purpose of preventing mouth and facial touching, a plastic face shield is far better. Even with zero filtration.
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Some nations now are asking their mil and gov experts to make masks. Designs that last and that are use once in the numbers needed.
For gov, mil, police, medical use per day over a long time.
Other nations did that work years ago and are more ready.
Fabric masks work better than you think (Score:2)
I question the efficacy of a fabric sewn mask. Fabric is a poor filter even for dust, which is a huge particle
Turns out two layers of 100% cotton is 69% efficient at blocking particles the size of viruses - not as good as a mask which is 97% effective, but way better than nothing (especially if worn over a mask).
Other materials are technically better, but 100% cotton is better overall because of breathability (the article covers that aspect too).
But in reality the effectiveness is even better than the ratin
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Turns out two layers of 100% cotton is 69% efficient at blocking particles the size of viruses - not as good as a mask which is 97% effective, but way better than nothing (especially if worn over a mask).
You really really really misunderstood that study [nih.gov]. Two layers of 100% cloth is about 3% effective compared to a medical masks 56% effectiveness. And as for preventing infection it was actually worse than the control group.
There's some question if its better than nothing. The study even says one possible conclusion is that it is in fact worse than nothing.
The control arm was ‘standard practice’, which comprised mask use in a high proportion of participants. As such (without a no-mask control), the finding of a much higher rate of infection in the cloth mask arm could be interpreted as harm caused by cloth masks, efficacy of medical masks, or most likely a combination of both.
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The problem with reusing N95 masks is the filter media is only about N60. The rest is done by electrostatically charging it.
Once you wash it, it's no better than N60, or whatever the original media was.
You can't make N95 or N100 material for masks without statically charging it. You can't comfortably breathe through it if you try to mechanically filter the air.
Source: I'm building a production line for N95 / N100 mask media right now at a place that makes HEPA filters.
We're in trouble. (Score:2, Interesting)
My wife starts 14 days of COVID duty and they only have one *confirmed* case in our area. 3-4 more are 'pending'.
I went shopping this morning and it was business as usual for a large number of people. The median age shopping was in the 50s (pulled down only by college students sent home after spring break).
Administrators have picked now to be micromanaging penny pinchers. She has friends at other hospitals where Admins (not doctors, not helpers) were taking masks from ER physicians because they weren't "te
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Chinese tendency to hide the truth
Chinese? This wasn't China:
January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25: “CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
February 25: “I think that's a problem th
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This is great, and should be posted as reply to every post from the GP spam bot.
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It's actually worse, he's seems to be going back into denial and will take his followers with him, and a good swath of the U.S. will suffer for that moron.
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And the alleged administration's culture accelerated the propagation of the virus in the U.S. Both points are rather pointless at this point in time. It's here. Now we have to figure out how to handle it.
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All the items that are easy to buy that a hospital would need day to day for the next expected lung and flu conditions.
The smart nations also made sure their academics had the ability to make new tests, could do tracking and get production ready.
Also why Communist China telling the world it had wuflu
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The states control the lockdowns regardless of what the Whiner-in-Chief wants. And the state governors are already pissed off at him for his false statements and the alleged administration's lack of preparedness and inability to craft a plan. He thinks Covid-19 is a media problem that he can manipulate at will. It is unfortunate his Kool-Aid swilling followers will believe him, and unfortunate for the rest of us when they become Typhoid Marys.
On the edge. (Score:3)
3D printing, a relatively new and niche technology that can create everything from houses to tiny and complex structures from raw materials, has remained mostly on the fringes of the manufacturing and health care sectors.
Fringes? It's not that much on the fringe.
Prusa 3D Printed Face Shield (RC1), Assembly Guide (Score:3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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https://blog.prusaprinters.org... [prusaprinters.org]
You can help even without a 3D printer (Score:4, Interesting)
https://civilpedia.org/p/?pid=... [civilpedia.org] Got hand tools? You can help.
https://robots-everywhere.com/... [robots-everywhere.com] Got a Sodastream and an oven? You can help.
If you're having to sit at home anyway, might as well save the world, no?
Meeting today with hospital & local manufactur (Score:3)
This is happening, I went to a meeting today and we were shown a list of needed hospital supplies.
Local manufacturers are working to make PPE face shields, masks, gowns, gloves, hand sanitizers.
Restrictions have been relaxed so hand soap manufacturers can work with distillerys to create hand sanitizer.
On a personal level, I will be designing a face-shield. Yes, I know about the PRUSA face shield, but it allows access from the top which is a "no no".
We will also be working with local schools to load printers to mass produce parts.
The equipment shortage is real and everyone is pitching in to make high quality stuff. It is wonderful to see us all work together.
At this point, no one has requested any complex medical equipment, just PPE.
CNC mills for plastic? (Score:1)
Example from a local company ... (Score:2)
Here is an example [youtube.com] from a local company (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), that called for crowdsourcing two 3D printed parts for a face shield. They will provide the strap on the back, and the clear sheet, laser cut.