A group of volunteers in Italy who used 3D printing to make oxygen valves, which saved at least ten lives of people suffering from the coronavirus, have been threatened with legal action by a Luxembourg-based manufacturer of medical devices.
Fracassi
When a hospital in Brescia ran out of the life-saving equipment and the regular supplier said that they could not produce the valves on time, doctors began looking for an alternative solution. The search for a 3D printer got underway, with the hope that the tech could be used to print valves from computer designs.
Word of the hospital's plight reached Christian Fracassi and Alessandro Ramaioli of Isinnova, a local engineering firm that utilises 3D printing. According to Business Insider Italia, when the pair asked the maker of the valves for the blueprints in order to print replicas, the company refused and threatened them with legal action for patent infringement.
The two men pushed ahead anyway and, working alongside machining manufacturer Lonati and 3D manufacturing company FabLab, the volunteers were able to measure the respirator valves and produce 100 of them in 24 hours, at a cost of around €1 per valve. The usual cost of each valve produced by the original manufacturer is around €10,000.
According to FabLab founder Massimo Temporelli, the duo's actions have saved ten lives so far.
3D printed valves
The 3D printed replica valves cost around €1 each
Italy has so far confirmed over 31,500 cases of coronavirus with a death toll of more than 2,500 and growing. The creation of the replica valves is a huge step in saving lives at a time of crisis and the move has opened up a debate about copyright law in times of crisis.
Fracassi has said that he is working for free and does not plan to release the design publicly, despite additional hospitals requesting more valves.
Despite being hailed in his home country as a hero, Fracassi rejects the label and said he was just doing his duty in a time of emergency. He also said that he is afraid of the original valve manufacturers "cutting his head off" if there was a large-scale demand for his 3D printed devices "because it would be like ruining the market.".
In a Facebook post, Fracassi said: "[The patients] were people in danger of life, and we acted. Period."
He added: "We have no intention of profit on this situation, we are not going to use the designs or product beyond the strict need for us forced to act, we are not going to spread the drawing."
He also said that printing the valve would be difficult for most users, and that it should only be done in clinical environments: “The valve has very thin holes and tubes, smaller than 0.8m – it’s not easy to print the pieces,” he said. “Plus you have to respect not [contaminating] the product – really it should be produced in a clinical way.”
3D printed valves
The original valves cost around €10,000 each from the manufacturer
Back to Homepage
Back to Healthcare