BRESCIA, Italy — Our small city has been on lockdown for nearly two weeks. The streets are silent. Many factories are closed. The only people allowed outside are those walking their dogs, heading to the grocery store or those who have permission from the government. A few of our friends are hospitalized from the coronavirus, with many more in quarantine at home. Hundreds of people have died here.
In mid March, we heard that doctors from a nearby hospital didn’t have enough valves for their lifesaving ventilator machines. And the company that produced the valves couldn’t meet the growing demand.
Our company is five years old. We make earthquake sensors, silicone bandages, bicycles — practical stuff. We had never made valves before, but we wanted to help.
We visited the hospital to see the valve, which connects the patient to the breathing machine, mixing pure oxygen with air that enters through a rectangular window. It looks like a chess piece waving one arm and it needs to be replaced for each patient.
We came back to our office and started working, fueled by adrenaline. Our first few attempts didn’t succeed, but eventually we made four copies of the prototype on a small 3-D printing machine that we have in our office.
While the valve might look like a simple piece of plastic, it’s pretty complex; the hole that diffuses the oxygen is less than a millimeter in diameter.
The day after, we returned to the hospital and gave our valves to a doctor who tested them. They worked and he asked for 100 more. So we went back to the office, and returned to the hospital with 100 more. We hoped that this would last them for a few days. Still, the coronavirus rages on. A few hospitals in northern Italy asked us to make copies of the same piece. We are printing them now.
As the pandemic continues to worsen in other countries, we would like everyone to know that we are willing to share our 3-D model. There’s a catch, though; The model we recreated is called a Venturi valve, and different ventilators likely need different types of valves. People in other places might have to step in with new designs.
This sparked a second idea: to modify a snorkeling mask already on the market to create a ventilation-assisted mask for hospitals in need of additional equipment, which was successful when the hospital tested it on a patient in need.
We don’t say this to brag, but to show what is possible. In a moment of crisis, and in a moment when commerce globally is shutting down, there are still many do-it-yourself ways of helping the people around you.
Cristian Fracassi (@cristianfracass) is a civil engineer with a Ph.D. in polymer science. Alessandro Romaioli is a mechanical engineer.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected].
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
