Medtronic releases PB560 Ventilator Design and Manufacturing docs
Schematics, manuals, manufacturing docs for the Medtronic PB560 ventilator, released under a permissive license. Awesome stuff. ‘We appreciate your interest in using the design specifications for the Medtronic PB560 ventilator system to help address the shortage of ventilators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We invite manufacturers, engineers, and other innovators to use these files as inspiration for their own innovations.’
(tags: medtronic ventilators covid-19 specifications hardware manuals medicine)
Notes From the Battlefield March 30, 2020 – SAGES
‘Despite that devastation from the disease still continues, and being too early to draw any definitive conclusions, there are some signs that the slope of COVID-19 new cases in Italy may be starting to slow down. Italian epidemiologists feel it is the result of the strict physical distancing measures. As health care providers, this appears to be the best preventive measure to emphasize and possibly the only intervention currently available to overcome this epidemic.’
(tags: pandemics covid-19 italy medicine social-distancing)
‘Production of 3D printed components for ventilation systems: practical hints’
Notes from the front lines in Italy: ‘The current emergency allows exceptions to the use of not certified medical devices, if it is proved that no certified choices are available and in accordance with the local ethical committee. Furthermore, due to the short time required for the production, it is not possible to run extensive testing campaigns on the components, but each [additive manufacturing] operator must pay attention to the selection of materials and technologies that are suitable for the specific application, considering the risk classification of the components and the operational environment. In the following we summarize the workflow we applied at 3D4Med (http://www.3d4med.eu) – the Clinical 3D Printing Laboratory of San Matteo Hospital in Pavia – and Protolab – its engineering counterpart – to produce some of the requested components, along with some practical examples.’
(tags: 3d-printing emergencies italy covid-19 medicine healthcare 3d4med ventilators cpap)