Med3DP is an initiative in association with Trinity College Dublin which uses 3D printing to develop on-demand medical devices.

Bringing medical equipment to countries after a natural disaster can be time consuming, expensive, and downright difficult. But the proliferation of affordable 3D printers could have a huge impact on disaster response in developing countries.

A cheaper and faster solution has been developed by Med3DP, a small team at Trinity College Dublin founded by Dr Michael Monaghan and Dr Conor Buckley.

Med3DP is an initiative which has groups developing on-demand medical devices for humanitarian health-care. The twist is that they’re exclusively using 3D printers to do so.

Already, the group has developed a large range of devices. Better yet, many of these projects have resulted in ready-to-print files with detailed instructions for use. They hope that anyone in an affected disaster zone will be able to use the range of useful information to begin printing medical devices straight away.

Currently, the group has downloads on their website including; a pocket mask, arm splint, umbilical cord clamp, kidney tray, adjustable wrench, flexible PLA protocol, otoscope, fetoscope and many more.

Library of 3D Printable Medical Devices by Med3DP

Pooja Mandal is a student from India. She is doing an MSc in Bioengineering at Trinity College Dublin. Her specialization is in tissue engineering and stem cells. As well as this, she has also been working on devices for Med3DP including a 3D printed breast pump.

Mandal points out that the design requires improvements before it is truly useful for women in developing countries. She adds:

“What I would like is to be able to make it into a single component and that is easily accessible so that not much printing times goes into it.”

Of course, one of the many benefits of being able to 3D print on-site is that shipping second-hand devices can result in losses or breakages. This can easily be avoided with a 3D printer.

However, the project does require a 3D printer on site in a disaster zone which is another problem to be solved. But, as printer prices become more and more affordable, this will hopefully be doable.

Mandal adds that this project has given her, and her team mates, a lot of hope. She explains: “…I felt that maybe someday I could revolutionise [3D printing technology] in India.”

Find out more about Med3DP on their website or over on Twitter.

Source: Silicon Republic