In France today, the total number of victims of COVID-19 coronavirus exceeded 10,000. At the same time, medical services recorded their highest daily growth – 1417 patients had died since yesterday. The situation is difficult and France may at any moment fall into the same spiral of death as Italy and Spain. It should not be surprising then that hospitals are using all available means and methods to fight the pandemic. University Hospital Trust (AP-HP) – the largest hospital system in Europe, has focused on 3D printing technology.
The hospital purchased and installed 60 Stratasys F123 industrial 3D printers – they are to be used in 3D printing of face shields and masks, electrical syringe pumps, intubation equipment and respirator valves. The machines were ordered on March 31 and delivered at an express pace the next day. The project was partly financed by the luxury Kering conglomerate.
The operator of such a giant 3D printing system was Bone3D, which has been providing 3D printing services in the medical sector for several years. The hospital has also launched a dedicated internet platform – 3dcovid.org, which organizes work and manages the demand for printed applications. The whole project was created in just 10 days thanks to the cooperation of about 50 doctors, engineers, programmers and French entrepreneurs.
As Roman Khonsari says – one of the doctors involved in the project, the newly created 3D printing cluster is to be able to print up to 300 different details per day, reaching up to 3000 elements throughout the week.
Source: www.thestar.com.my & www.stratasys.com