Leveraging 3D Printing Capacity in Times of Crisis: Recommendations for COVID-19 Distributed Manufacturing for Medical Equipment Rapid Response

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has provided a unique set of global supply chain limitations with an exponentially growing surge of patients requiring care. The needs for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for hospital staff and doctors have been overwhelming, even just to rule out patients not infected. High demand for traditionally manufactured devices, challenged by global demand and limited production, has resulted in a call for additive manufactured (3D printed) equipment to fill the gap between traditional manufacturing cycles. This method has the unique ability to pivot in real time, while traditional manufacturing may take months to change production runs. 3D printing has been used to produce a variety of equipment for hospitals including face shields, masks, and even ventilator components to handle the surge. This type of rapid, crowd sourced, design and production resulted in new challenges for regulation, liability, and distribution. This manuscript reviews these challenges and successes of additive manufacturing and provides a forward plan for hospitals to consider for future surge events. Recommendations: To accommodate future surges, hospitals and municipalities should develop capacity for short-run custom production, enabling them to validate new designs. This will rapidly increase access to vetted equipment and critical network sharing with community distributed manufacturers and partners. Clear guidance and reviewed design repositories by regulatory authorities will streamline efforts to combat future pandemic waives or other surge events.

Keywords: 3D printing; COVID-19; PPE; social networks.

Figure 1

3D printed face shield visor manufactured in out laboratory to support national coalition efforts. Design: Stratasys’ three hole punch spacing visor. Machine: Fortus 250 mc. Material: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

Figure 2

Example 3D printed mask extender set, or earsaver, manufactured to support local hospital needs on a desktop-style 3D printer. Design: disposable ear relief strap [56]. Machine: MakerBot Replicator. Material: polylactide thermoplastic.

Figure 3

A national map identifying higher education institutions across the United States. Blue dots are used to represent public universities, and green dots represent private not-for-profit universities. Data and mapping made available by the Department of Education [60].