HACKERS and HOSPITALS

This page is being constantly updated, so please check back daily. We will probably set up a form in case people want email updates.

HACKERS and HOSPITALS is an effort to coordinate Hackers with Hospitals during an immediate time of need.

Participate

If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, you can contact: michael at fsf.org

Boston: Fill out the survey at https://covidinnovation.partners.org/questionnaire/ and email the project heads at https://covidinnovation.partners.org/wg-info/ to join a MGB Center for COVID Innovation working group.
- Watch the MGB Center for COVID Innovation Town Hall video if you missed it: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=SDl6M7-sMy4
Edit this page! Anyone can do so.
- Register and login.
  - If you are not an associate member of the FSF, make a non-member account here: https://my.fsf.org/user/register
  - Login here: https://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=HACKERS+and+HOSPITALS
- Post what you are working on (even works in progress) to a public version control system (such as git).
- License your project under a free culture license.
- Link your project here.
- If you do not have the means to produce or design, research what others are doing and post it here.
Find out what your local needs are.
- Organize local fabricators and hospitals.
- Assess the needs of the hospitals.
- Do not produce unless there is a need.
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Mission

We need to help coordinate the medical needs of hospitals with local area fabricators. Boston has a large number of healthcare professionals, hackers, makers, engineers, biomedical innovators, and crafters. If we can all work together, we can save lives.

We need to:

Identify parts that need replacing often.
Get those parts to local 3D scanners or redesign them in ways that maker space can duplicate them.
Publish the plans and design files under free culture licenses.
Call on the community to replicate parts.

Common printing materials (PLA & ABS) are probably single use due only to their porous nature so we need to start now to meet demand. Most of the plans I have seen for face masks involve flexible material such as Ninjaflex which many maker spaces have, but in less supply. Copper3D makes an anitmicrobial filament which can probably be found in the Boston area, but rare.

The next step would be for the medical teams to identify commonly used parts that may be suitable for replication using a 3D printing process.

Resources

Meta:

Dr. Tarek Loubani's twitter crashcourse on 3D printer materials and biocompatibility: https://mobile.twitter.com/turzaak/status/1239544498553860096
FDA statement on additive medical devices: https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/technical-considerations-additive-manufactured-medical-devices
FDA statement on alternative ventilator usage: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/emergency-use-authorizations?utm_campaign=2020-03-26%20FDA%20Issues%20Emergency%20Use%20Authorization%20for%20Ventilators&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua#covid19ventilators
What can be expected on a respiratory crash cart: https://www.acls.net/acls-crash-cart.htm

Local groups with fabrication equipment:

Maker & Hacker spaces
Local businesses
- Engineering
- Medical
  - Biomedical research
  - Dentists
- Tailors
Education
- Schools
  - Reach out your local school districts and their unions to use their fabrication equipment! Much of the equipment is going unused as schools are closing.
- After-school centers
Hobbyists and Hackers