Medical devices are being designed, made, tested and refined in quick succession using digital technology.

Digital fabrication technology in Malta has adapted and responded rapidly to the coronavirus pandemic, with the creation of a breathing prototype and other devices for hospital in a matter of weeks.

Face shields.

The breathing-assistance device, the result of collaboration between a number of companies, was created in a week, delivered to Mater Dei Hospital and tested, said architect Steve De Micoli.

His Matter Make fabrication-based design studio formed part of the team that manufactured the prototype.

He attributes the speed of the innovation also to the concept of the makerspace, where people with similar interests and expertise in computing and technology gather to work on projects using equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters and CNC milling machines.

The ventilator prototype can be used with the manual resuscitator, known as an Ambu bag, to control breathing in patients according to parameters set by doctors, as opposed to manual assistance.

It could be resorted to in the case of a lack of ventilators. The idea stemmed from the situation in Italy, where hospitals did not have the capacity to deal with the surge of patients and healthcare workers were having to choose who to let live, De Micoli said.

If the go-ahead is obtained, factory space for assembly is available and hundreds can be produced at high speed. So far, only one COVID-19 patient has had to use a ventilator.

We have shown it is possible to create hospital equipment quickly and in great quantities

Also driven by the outbreak, Matter Make speedily created an intubation box for anaesthetists which led to the fabrication of another similar device for endoscopies designed by a local surgeon. Each was assembled in a couple of days.

An acrylic box that is placed over the patient’s head allows the anaesthetist to insert his hands to carry out intubation while avoiding infection from coughing. Normally, the underside of a shield is open and does not offer full protection, De Micoli explained.

This idea was built on for endoscopies, with one hole for the air supply in the acrylic box fitted onto the patient’s head and another for the insertion of the camera into the body, again to avoid contagion through spitting and coughing.

Matter Make has also manufactured and distributed face shields, with the ability to churn out 200 a day through a model adapted to work both on laser cutters and 3D printers, De Micoli said.

He is also working with dentists to refine their face shields for better protection against coronavirus.

Passionate about fabrication, De Micoli maintains that having a space with the equipment needed to carry out electronic projects allows for the manufacture of “almost anything” using innovative materials.

A makerspace is “the most agile method for prototyping design ideas and deploying them through a feedback loop of designing, testing and refining”. This means the device goes through its teething issues rapidly, explained De Micoli, who is about to launch his own makerspace, Maker Lab. “We are architects, but since we have this space, we asked what we could do to help the community, while also compensating for work that has been put on hold due to the outbreak. Over the past four weeks, we have looked for new ideas and shown it is possible to create hospital equipment quickly and in great quantities.

“The question now is why wait for a pandemic? Yes, necessity is the mother of invention, but with vehicles that are so able to innovate, we should do more to avoid even bigger crises caused by, for example, climate change.”