3D printed medical accessories using FDM process for COVID-19 virus

Abstract

The sudden spike in the Covid-19 pandemic cases around the world caused an urgent demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as N95 face mask, face shield, ventilator valve, and non-contact door hook. The current situation requires a huge cost involvement and hard to solve the huge demand in such a short period by using the traditional fabrication process for producing these components. Therefore, the three-dimensional (3D) printing technology emerged as a suitable alternative to produce cost-effective production methods for these components. A comparative study is carried out for two different thermoplastic materials like PLA and ABS. The present research work focuses on the design, types of filament material, and 3D printing process to print the required PPE kits which facilitates to reduce the economic cost, environmentally hazardous, and failure of the product (reusable). The 3D printing machines can be set up at a smaller scale to address the on-demand purpose of making lightweight frames like face shields and non-contact door hooks. Overall the initial investment needed for the 3D printing technology to print the polymer medical accessories is reduced and the material can be reused after appropriate treatment.

The outbreak of Covid-19 has taken the entire world by a storm which caused everyone to self-isolate until either the number of cases settles down or a vaccine is found. Since the origin of the first case in the Wuhan district, experts predict that a vaccine will come out only during the year 2021 and this raises the question of exactly how the world will contain the virus till then [1]. The front-line workers were advised to wear N95 masks to stop the spread of the virus as the masks were said to filter out 95% of airborne particles (0.3 µm) but can be used only for an 8-hour duration. This caused a sudden demand for such PPE kits in clinics and hospitals throughout the world [2]. As countries struggled with the sudden demand for these kits, multiple communities took it to themselves to produce feasible masks and shields to support the front-line workers with their fight against the pandemic. One such process that gains immediate attention was rapid production with the help of 3D printing. This process proved to be an effective solution to design and manufacture high volumes of medical accessories in a short duration of time as shown in Figure [3-5].