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locAl Monday 18 May 2020
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Defence uses 3D printer to produce medical equipment in the

fight against coronavirus

combating coronavirus on cal equipment at a time of greater material strength
Curaçao and in the rest of crisis. In this way, Defence in the object to be printed,
the Dutch Caribbean. is demonstrating that it is Defence uses harder fila-
working hard to support ment types, such as ‘tough
Demand for medical the fight against corona- PLA’.
equipment virus in the Caribbean, not
An initial analysis showed only in a highly visible way, Follow-up project
that there is a demand for but in the background too. The greatest demand is
a number of items that De- He went on to say that sup- currently for face shields. market, a doctor’s surgery,
fence can provide, some porting civil authorities was In collaboration with XE- T experience (crowd man-
of which by using 3D print- one of the main tasks of the ROX, Defence was able to agement) and GPs.
ers, in the efforts to combat Flag Officer in the Caribbe- acquire transparent plastic
coronavirus. These parts/ an, and that it was certain- shields, and subsequently On the basis of the tests,
items are: ly doing so with this project! the project team set to Defence will modify the
- Fittings for snorkel masks work printing the head- design and print more runs.
so that they can be used as What is 3D printing? bands. Tests were then car- In addition to Defence, the
oxygen masks in hospitals; 3D printing or ‘additive ried out to see whether the 3D task group consists of
- Face shields; manufacturing’ is a process design needed to be modi- Green Phenix, Makeit 3D
- Respirators; whereby three-dimensional fied. The tests were carried and DRC Curaçao Tech
WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO - Splitters (so that more objects are produced from out by the CMC, a super- Meetups.q
— In the Caribbean, De- than one patient can use a a digital file. Objects creat-
fence is producing fittings single ventilator). ed by 3D printing are made
for medical equipment, to by means of additive pro- At least ten reef-associated
support the fight against While the Curaçao Medi- cesses, whereby the object
coronavirus. These efforts cal Center (CMC) current- is built up layer for layer until shark species in the Dutch
are being made by the ly has sufficient personal it is complete. Each layer is Caribbean
Royal Netherlands Navy protective equipment in a thin horizontal cross-sec-
in Curaçao by using a 3D stock, that is not the case tion of the object.
printer. for other medical facilities WAGENINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS — Wageningen
such as hospices, dentists, In 2018, the Expertise Cen- Marine Research reported ten reef-associated shark
The idea for the project clinics, supermarkets and trum Additive Manufactur- species in the Dutch Caribbean in a recent published
was born because reports GPs (General Practitioners ing (ECAM) in Den Helder study as part of Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance
were received from vari- Committee). was granted permission (DCNA)’s Save Our Sharks Project. The most common
ous sources that medical to purchase 10 new 3D species are the nurse shark and the Caribbean reef
equipment was needed Sergeant Barry of the En- printers, one of which was shark. Overall, more sharks were observed in conser-
on the island. As a result, gineering Department is intended for use in the vation areas than in unprotected areas, highlighting
a new project was started, enthusiastic about the Caribbean. The Maritime the importance of these zones in shark conservation.
with the plan to investigate project. He commented Sustainment Division of the
whether there was demand that it was a great thing to Flag Officer Caribbean More than 100 million sharks are killed each year as a
for various medical appli- provide the country and received the 3D printer in result of fishing and shark finning activities, twice the
cations for preventing and region with essential medi- 2019 in order to test wheth- rate at which they can reproduce. The demand for
er it was possible to print fins and other shark products has driven a number of
parts or spare parts for the species close to extinction. Sharks are especially vul-
various ships and coast- nerable to overfishing and habitat degradation as
guard boats. they are late to mature and produce few young. The
main threats to sharks in our waters are accidental
The 3D printers used by bycatch, habitat degradation and the risk of a shark
Defence are suitable for fin market developing, which would lead to targeted
several types of filament, fishing of sharks.
the plastic that is used for
printing objects. The vari- We need healthy oceans and healthy oceans need
ous types of filament avail- sharks
able include hard, soft and Sharks keep our oceans healthy. These top predators
flexible filament, and even remove sick or weak members of their prey popula-
wood filament. For medical tions. A decrease in number of sharks leads to a dis-
applications, Defence uses turbed natural balance in the sea.
the standard PLA filament. Continued on Page 32
For projects that demand