Team 3D prints ventilator valves to save lives in Italy

Christian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli are a team of young Italian engineers that work for a company that specializes in 3D printing. They were living in a country severely affected by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. “A few of our friends are hospitalized from the coronavirus, with many more in quarantine at home. Hundreds of people have died here.”

And then they found an opportunity to make a difference. “In mid March, we heard that doctors from a nearby hospital didn’t have enough valves for their lifesaving ventilator machines.“
Those are called Venturi valves and need to be replaced for every patient.

“We had never made valves before, but we wanted to help. (…) We visited the hospital to see the valve, which connects the patient to the breathing machine, mixing pure oxygen with air that enters through a rectangular window.“

They started working on it immediately and, through trial and error, finally printed some successfull copies, which they took to the hospital for the doctors to check. They worked so the hospital asked to make 100 copies of them. The hospital director was very grateful for their contribution, saying that “Our respirator valves had run out and we no longer knew how to give oxygen to our patients. The 3-D printing saved us."

Soon other hospitals followed with the same requests so the team keeps printing these valves to help as much as they can. “We don’t say this to brag, but to show what is possible. In a moment of crisis, and in a moment when commerce globally is shutting down, there are still many do-it-yourself ways of helping the people around you.”

Adapted from: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/opinion/ventilators-coronavirus-italy...
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/3-d-printers-help-save-lives-f...