Fast Mass-Production of Medical Safety Shields under COVID-19 Quarantine: Optimizing the Use of University Fabrication Facilities and Volunteer Labor

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic provoked a number of restrictive measures, such as the closure or severe restriction of border transit for international trading traffic, quarantines and self-isolation. This caused a series of interrelated consequences that not only prevent or slow down the spread of disease, but also impact the medical systems’ capability to treat the patients and help their recovery. In particular, steeply growing demand for medical safety goods cannot be satisfied by regular suppliers due to the shortage of raw materials originating from other countries or remotely located national sources, under conditions of quarantined manpower. The current context inevitably brings back memories (and records!) of the situation 80 years ago, when WWII necessitated major effort directed at the rapid build-up of low-cost mass production to satisfy all aspects of war-time need. In the present short report we document a successful case of fast mass-production of light transparent medical safety face shields (thousands per day) realized in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) at Fablab and Machine Shop Shared Facility (Skoltech FabLab). The demand for safety face shields by tens of hospitals in Moscow and other cities rapidly ramped up due to the need to protect medical staff during patient collection and transportation to hospitals, and within both the infected (“red”) and uninfected (“green”) zones. Materials selection for sterilizable transparent materials was conducted based on the analysis of merit indices, namely, minimal weight at given stiffness and minimal cost at given stiffness. Due to the need for permanent wear, design was motivated by low weight and comfortable head fixation, along with high production efficiency. The selection of minimal tooling in University fabrication workshops and the use of distributed volunteer labor are discussed.

The Quality of Life, Psychological Health, and Occupational Calling of Korean Workers: Differences by the New Classes of Occupation Emerging Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Correlatively, another study has reported that people’s QoL may decrease when they experience physical and mental pain, activity restrictions, and environmental exposure [ 51 ]. Moreover, a bulk of the literature [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ] has shown the necessity of implementing measures to address the changes in Korean workers’ psychological health and QoL levels owing to the national crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, governmental support and various leisure activity programs should be devised to promote the QoL of the Unpaid-2 and the Forgotten, as even during the crisis these people will eventually return to their workplaces owing to financial reasons.…”

Mass-production and Distribution of Medical Face Shields Using Additive Manufacturing and Injection Molding Process for Healthcare System Support During COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil

“…This project shows how the FDM process allows small scale decentralized production of consumer goods at a pandemic situation as a response from civil society, allowing assistance to hospitals in need [50]. The results highlight the role of the ''maker'' or ''citizen supply chain'' community across the world, with collaborators from industrial and academic institutions, in a network, in a short period, to donate face shields to healthcare professionals [36]. This mobilization happens mainly due to the commotion and the sense of unity that is ongoing during the pandemic.…”

“…Many countries around the world have used the FDM process to produce cost-effective medical face shields [35][36][41][42][43][44][45][46]. However, due to process' heterogeneity, some devices have been produced with no standardized procedure or medical approval.…”

“…Face shields with very thin frames are more fragile, they can break during transportation or use, and are less comfortable and reliable. However, some 3D-printed face shield are as good as commercial standardmodels [36]. It is possible to de ne the practicality, and clinical suitability of 3D-printed face shields related to weight, printing time, and if it required assembling tools to nd an ideal dataset to be used for printing, scalability, and economic e ciency [46].…”

“…Some studies indicate that the production of medical face shields can be accomplished through two manufacturing processes: FDM and IM [35][36]. However, which of the methods is the most suitable for mass production and rapid distribution of face shields in a pandemic situation?…”