Guelph Using 3D Printers to Create Medical Equipment

Guelph Using 3D Printers to Create Medical Equipment

WITH THE availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) becoming increasingly limited in Canada, the University of Guelph and makers in the community are using 3D printers to create face shields for health workers.

Across the university campus, 3D printers — including those at the John F. Wood Centre MakerSpace, the two at the School of Fine Art and Music, and the printers at the College of Arts’ Interdisciplinary Design Lab (IDL) — are being used to produce plastic frames for face shields that are to be donated to essential service workers.

Mairin Scannell, Program Coordinator at the John F. Wood Centre for Business and Student Enterprise, told the University that when she heard of the PPE shortage, she wanted to help.

Each frame takes close to three hours to make, and last week, Scannell sent the first batch of printed frames to InkSmith, a Kitchener-based education technology company that has been collecting frames and outfit each with a clear, laser-cut plastic face guard.

“These face masks will then be distributed to the essential workers in the region who have been requesting them, including pharmacists, veterinary offices and medical clinics,” Scannell told the University. In the School of Fine Art and Music, the 3D printers are normally used by Studio Art students for virtual sculpting projects or to recreate miniature models of famous artworks.

Sculpture technician, Paul Lovell, who is now using the 3D printers to create protective face shields, told the University, “They’re great tools for our students but these printers were just sitting idle on campus, so now we’re putting them to use.”

The University has also donated 10,000 N95 masks to local hospitals, as well as materials to create hand sanitizers, and says it “plans to ship and distribute more supplies to local health authorities.”

On Facebook, a group called “Guelph Makers Covid-19 Response” was created on March 20. The groups, self-described as “a place for organizing makers and sharing designs for medical equipment that may become necessary in the Guelph and area response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” has been sharing 3D printer models so that people in the community who have access to 3D printers can help.

Health Canada is advising the public, as well as healthcare professionals to use caution when considering the use of homemade masks, noting that sewn cloth face masks “have not been tested to recognized standards” and “may not provide complete protection against virus-sized particles.” Guelph Makers and the University are taking care to ensure what they are making meets necessary standards.

A post on April 1, from maker Scott Harris, showed a picture of a stack of clear face shields and read, “200 face shields ready to go to the Homewood [Homewood Health Centre] to help with their outbreak.”

Harris, 45, who works as a teacher at the Upper Grand District School Board told The Ontarion, “I started printing them because I am a 3D printing enthusiast.”

“It took a very long time to print each mask and a lot of filament,” Harris said, “so I started trying to design my own version. I managed to reduce the amount of plastic by about five times, which greatly increased production.”

The response from the community has been both quick and effective.

“The maker community is uniquely prepared to respond quickly and immediately to the changing needs of society,” Harris said. “It has been very heartening to see the community come together in this time of anxiety and hardship. … As of yesterday (April 2) we have distributed 1,020 face shields in the Guelph area.”