An Italian 3D printing startup designed and printed 100 life-saving respirator valves in a day for a hospital, which had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care, in Brescia.

Each of these 3D-printed respirator valves costs less than €1 to produce, and the prototype just took three hours to design, BBC News reported.

The 3D-printed respirator valves. (Photo: Isinnova) 

According to a report of 3D Media Printing Network, the Brescia-based hospital urgently needed valves but the supplier could not provide them in a short time.

At last, Cristian Fracassi, Founder & CEO of 3D printing startup Isinnova, brought a 3D printer directly to the hospital, redesigned and then produced the missing piece shortly.

After the first valves were 3D printed using a filament extrusion system, on location at the hospital, more valves were later printed by another local 3D printing firm, Lonati SpA, using a polymer laser powder bed fusion process and a custom polyamide-based material.

The valves are called Venturi valves which connect oxygen masks to respirators used by coronavirus patients suffering from respiratory complications, said Reuters.

An Italian 3D printing startup designed and printed 100 life-saving respirator valves in a day for a hospital, which had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care, in Brescia.

Each of these 3D-printed respirator valves costs less than €1 to produce, and the prototype just took three hours to design, BBC News reported.

The 3D-printed respirator valves. (Photo: Isinnova) 

According to a report of 3D Media Printing Network, the Brescia-based hospital urgently needed valves but the supplier could not provide them in a short time.

At last, Cristian Fracassi, Founder & CEO of 3D printing startup Isinnova, brought a 3D printer directly to the hospital, redesigned and then produced the missing piece shortly.

After the first valves were 3D printed using a filament extrusion system, on location at the hospital, more valves were later printed by another local 3D printing firm, Lonati SpA, using a polymer laser powder bed fusion process and a custom polyamide-based material.

The valves are called Venturi valves which connect oxygen masks to respirators used by coronavirus patients suffering from respiratory complications, said Reuters.