Unique Software Development is 3D Printing Respirators During COVID-19
Summary
A national shortage of masks, N95 respirators, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) not only further spreads the virus, but it can also inhibit the ability of healthcare workers to treat COVID-19 as rapidly as they should. The software developer is starting to produce as many as 400 respirators a day with its 3D printers using a design from the Billings Clinic Foundation, a healthcare nonprofit in Montana. Like most businesses, once the pandemic hit the United States, we began researching ways in which we could aid our local and national healthcare responders,” he says. The plastic component of the design is one that can be sanitized indefinitely and reused, allowing a common surgical mask to be worn 6-10 times as a filter, according to O’Brien. “We’re going to help local hospitals and healthcare workers get more uses out of common surgical masks, which are in short supply already, so that they may continue to safely assist patients during this great time of need,” O’Brien says, referencing USD’s home in Dallas.