Ventilators from the 3D printer

Hanna Helder studied German language and literature at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. In addition to her studies, she has gained a lot of experience in radio and print journalism through internships and freelance work. She has been at the Burda School of Journalism since October 2018 and writes, among other things, as a trainee for

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Ventilators and breathing masks from the 3D printer are supposed to save lives in future corona emergencies. The winners of an unusual competition.

Ventilators and masks for corona emergencies

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the reinsurer Munich Re honored the winners of an unusual competition: The aim was to develop ventilators and masks that can be produced quickly and inexpensively on site in the event of a corona emergency in order to avoid supply bottlenecks. The research company and the company provided a total of one million euros in budget and prize money for the "Give a Breath" competition.

One goal, several winners

They were looking for simple, “non-invasive” ventilators - that means without a device for intubating the patient, as is only necessary for particularly severe lung diseases. There were two winners, as Munich Re announced:

The first winner is a "SmartCPAP" device specially adapted to the needs of corona patients, which was jointly developed by several Fraunhofer institutes. According to the jury, it can be fed with oxygen from various sources and works with overpressure. The second winner was the “Vivid Breath” team from Munich, which, in a Bavarian-Indian cooperation, developed a ventilator with only 35 components that can be produced using 3D printing.

Another part of the competition was the development of the ventilation masks to match the devices. A student initiative was honored with their project “Soteria” (Greek: rescue). The masks can also be completely 3D printed and, according to the jury, adapt to the shape of the face. In addition, a digital manual on the maintenance and use of the devices and on dealing with Covid 19 patients was awarded.

Supply chain independence

The digital blueprints for ventilators, masks and manuals are to be made available to governments and partners around the world. Regions severely affected by Corona should become independent of global supply chains in this regard. So far, the masks and devices have been tested and appraised by experts from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In South Africa, a pilot trial and clinical studies are to be started in order to get approval in the country. (hh / dpa)

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