3D Printable PPE for use in Hospital Environments
In March 2020, at the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UK's supply chain for medical grade PPE collapsed under unprecedented demand and a workforce that could be sent into quarantine at a moment's notice. As a result frontline clinical staff in some of the UK's busiest hospitals were left to care for patients without adequate protective equipment. To respond to this, a coalition of experts in medicine and surgery, medical devices, product design and digital manufacturing was formed between Queen Mary University of London and the Royal London Dental Hospital to design safe, effective and reusable PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that could be manufactured quickly to meet the urgent demands of London's hospitals and medical and dental surgeries.
Outcomes
This project resulted in the manufacture of over 3,000 3D printed face visors, and a further 20,000 injection moulded visors which were distributed to hospitals, schools and community medical practices within days of the nationwide PPE shortage. These were also the second 3D printed face visors to gain regulatory apporoval (CE mark) in the UK, and the first to be specifically designed for high-risk aerosol generating dental procedures. The accompanying paper, “Innovation in the time of SARS-CoV-2: A collaborative journey between NHS clinicians, engineers, academics and industry" was published in the Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and goes into more detail about the manufacturing and logistical steps required to design and distribute a product, from scratch, within a matter of days.
Key Collaborators
- Miss Hristina Cvetanovska, Royal London Dental Hospital
- Professor Shakeel Shahdad, Royal London Dental Hospital
- Dr Ahmed Din, Royal London Dental Hospital
- Mr Ho Huen, Queen Mary Unviersity of London
- Mr Bukeikhan Omarali, Queen Mary University of London
- Professor Kaspar Althoefer, Queen Mary University of London
- Dr Ildar Farkhatdinov, Queen Mary University of London
- Dr Sarah Waia, Royal London Dental Hospital
Financial Support
The manufacture of 3D printed face visors was supported by a Bart's Charity Grant, QMUL Impact Acceleration Funding and charitable donations from a Facebook fundraiser, as well as in-kind manufacturing contributions from a number of industrial partners.
The research into customised 3D printable mask adapters was funded by Bart's Charity.
