As theCOVID-19 outbreakworsens across the US, the urgent need for medical gear has compelled the additive manufacturing industry -- makers of 3D printers like Stratasys and HP, as well as their customers -- to put their tools to work in completely new ways. They're making face shields and other kinds of personal protective equipment for medical providers, as well as much-needed ventilators for patients.
With this kind of critical medical gear in short supply, 3D printing offers a fast way to fill in some of the gaps, the industry says.
"The strengths of 3D printing – be anywhere, print virtually anything, adapt on the fly – make it a capability for helping address shortages of parts related to shields, masks, and ventilators, among other things," Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif said in a statement. Calling additive manufacturing "an essential part" of the pandemic response, he said Stratasys' workforce and partners "are prepared to work around the clock to meet the need for 3D printers, materials, including biocompatible materials, and 3D-printed parts."
Here's how Stratasys and others are stepping up:
Stratasys says it's mobilizing all of its resources to quickly produce thousands of disposable face shields that it will provide to medical personnel for free. Using its direct manufacturing facilities in Minnesota; Austin, Texas; and Valencia, Calif., the company plans to make both a 3D-printed frame and a clear plastic shield that covers the entire face. Medical technology company Medtronic and the Minneapolis-based Dunwoody College of Technology are providing support for the plastic shield material, Stratasys says.
The company's initial goal is toproduce 5,000 face shields by this Friday. After that, it should be able to scale up to a faster rate of production.
Stratasys is also inviting other 3D printing shops in the US to get involved. It's posted the full face shield printing and assembly instructions on itsCOVID-19 response page, and there's anonline formshops can fill out to join the Stratasys effort.
In addition to producing face shields, Stratasys is joining theCoVent-19 Challenge, an initiative that asks engineers and designers to help develop new, rapidly deployable ventilators. The effort is led by anesthesiology residents of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Stratasys plans to support the challenge and promote it via its GrabCAD community.
HP is mobilizing to produce a variety of 3D-printed components for medical facilities across the globe.So far, the company has helped deliver more than 1000 3D-printed parts to local hospitals, and it's in the process oftesting and validating designs for a wide range of components.
"We are collaborating across borders and industries to identify the parts most in need, validate the designs, and begin 3D printing them," CEO Enrique Lores said in a statement.
The first products that can get out the door, HP says, include 3D-printed components for face masks, face shields, mask adjusters, nasal swabs, hands-free door openers and respirator parts. HP also plans to being testing and validating designs for other applications, including a mechanical bag valve mask (BVM) that is designed for use as a short-term emergency ventilator. It's also working on validating several hospital-grade face masks and expects them to be available shortly.
The work is happening at HP's 3D R&D centers in Barcelona, Spain; Corvallis, Oregon; San Diego, California; and Vancouver, Washington.
HP and its partners will be making the validated design files for many of the parts that do not require complex assemblyfreely available here. It's also inviting 3D designers who want to contribute new applications and ideas to visit thiswebsite. Lastly, any hospitals or companies that want to request the development of a specific 3D-printed part cansubmit requests here.
Protolabs, the Minnesota-based digital manufacturer, has beendeemed an essential businessas it prioritizes medical orders on its manufacturing floor. It's waiving expedite fees for medical companies to get orders out the door as quickly as possible, and it's partnering with organizations to produce innovative new designs.
The company has provided updates on Twitter about its progress: As of Sunday, it had 14 molding pressesloaded with ventilator parts, with thousands already completed and ready for distribution. Protolabs also worked with the University of Minnesota todesign a new ventilator, from concept to prototype, over the course of one night. Last week, the company said it quickly producedthousands of components for COVID-19 test kits.
Ford Motor Company is partnering with GE Healthcare to expand production of ventilators and other critical equipment in the US, CEO Jim Hackettsaid on CBS This Morning on Tuesday. As part of its efforts, the automotive giant is using its 3D printing factories to produce plastic face shields and components for personal protective equipment. Ford plans to assemble more than100,000 face shields per week.
The first 1,000 face shields will be tested this week at Detroit Mercy, Henry Ford Health Systems and Detroit Medical Center Sinai-Grace Hospitals, Ford said. Roughly 75,000 are expected to be finished by the end of the week.
Volkswagen hasformed a task forceresponsible for adapting its manfucturing facilities for the production of ventilators and medical gear, the company said last week. Part of that effort includes leveraging its more than 125 industrial 3D printers.
"Medical equipment is a new field for us," the company said in a statement to Reuters. "But as soon as we understand the requirements, and receive a blueprint, we can get started."
Prototype components have already been printed, the company said.
SmileDirectClub, the oral care company known for its direct-to-consumer teeth straightening kits, has opened up its manufacturing facility for the production of medical supplies. The company says it is one of the largest 3D printing manufacturers in the US.
It's partnering with medical supply companies and health organizations to produce supplies such as medical face shields and respirator valves. Specifically, the company can print materials using STL 3D printing files. And thanks to recent automations that increased its printing output capacity, the company sais it can easily ramp up production. SmileDirectClub is also offering the help of its global HIPAA-trained contact center team and support system.
SmileDirectClub is urging medical supply companies and health organizations to contact them directly atresilience@smiledirectclub.com.
"In times like these, it is incumbent on all of us do what we can to help those in need however we can," SmileDirectClub CEO David Katzman said in a statement. "Reports of medical supply shortages are very concerning and we have the production capacity to help in the printing of plastic materials."
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