3D door handles
As the world continues to face the coronavirus disease pandemic through social-distancing, self-quarantine and repeated cleaning of surfaces and hands, opening doors to hospitals, grocery stores, medical facilities, airports and a few other locations is still necessary. People are wearing gloves or using plastic bags to open doors. Fair enough. Stay safe.
But Belgium-based Materialise designed a 3D-printed door opener that allows people to open and close doors using their arms, rather than their hands. Materialise is giving away the design for free and is putting out a call to arms for 3D printers around the world to print their design that could help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Door handles come in a wide variety of materials and the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine. According to a news release from nih.gov, the report states that “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.” Door handles represent an area that carries a high risk of contamination, even with regular cleaning using alcohol-based solvents.
The 3D-printed door opener attaches to door handles and extends a paddle-shaped object for people’s arms to open and close doors. It doesn’t need holes to be drilled, and you don’t need to replace the doorknob or handle. This version only attaches to cylindrical handles, though Materialise is going to design more 3D files that fit different types of door handles.
Engineering.com
Transform Snorkeling Mask into Ventilator
3D-printing is bringing more new tricks to the coronavirus crisis.
Days ago an Italian business 3D-printed replacement valves for ventilators, sorely needed by hospitals globally — and now the company has invented 3D-printed adapters to turn snorkels into C-PAP oxygen masks, according to 3D printing Media Network.
Roughly a week ago, a local 3D printer business helped a hospital flooded with coronavirus patients supplement its replacement valves.
But the company behind the valves — called Isinnova — has completed yet another crafty invention designed to meet the unique demands of the coronavirus pandemic: a 3D printed adapter capable of converting a snorkeling mask into a functional C-PAP mask for oxygen therapy — critical for the recovery of people with severe cases of COVID-19. […]
It’s not hard to understand what a snorkeling mask does, but this brand’s masks cover one’s entire face, providing swimmers an unobstructed view of their underwater environment. The bottom portion of the device channels into a slim “snorkel” that cruises along, just above the surface of the water.
While the new snorkel-based mask has worked so far, Isinnova isn’t going to put it into production immediately. “Neither the mask nor the link are certified and their use is subject to a situation of mandatory need,” said the 3D printing business. Patients still have to sign a legal declaration to authorize the use of an uncertified device in their care.
Consequently, the Italian inventors stress that their new invention should only be used in emergency situations (quickly becoming the new normal in hospitals globally).
interestengineering