Startups Are 3D-Printing Scarce Ventilator and Virus Test Kit Parts
Tech companies are working with local hospitals and health agencies to combat a shortage of lifesaving equipment and medical supplies.
3D-printed nasal swabs at Formlabs’ Massachusetts headquarters.
Photographer: Tony Luong for Bloomberg Businessweek
As New York state has become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, officials say they will need 30,000 ventilators for use by the most critical patients in coming weeks. But getting even a few of the lifesaving machines has proved a huge challenge as hospitals around the world jockey for the scarce supply. So engineers at Formlabs Inc., a venture-backed manufacturer of 3D printers, helped doctors and researchers at Northwell Health, the state’s biggest private health-care provider, to quickly design an adapter that converts breathing machines normally used to treat sleep apnea and other nighttime respiratory conditions into emergency ventilators.
“We’re really trying to innovate our way out of it,” says Todd Goldstein, director of Northwell’s 3D design and innovation department, which began using the printed adapters last month. “We’re not just standing around waiting for equipment to show up. We have to be proactive about either sourcing or creating products now.”