Medical device developer Glia: Using 3D printed tourniquets to help the wounded in Ukraine

March 2022, as Ukraine continues to be bombarded by Russian forces, open sourcemedicalDevice developer Glia has issued a call for the company to3D printingThe wound tourniquet manufactured was sent to Ukraine.this3D printingThe manufactured tourniquet, dubbed the “Gaza tourniquet” due to its original use in Palestine, is a low-cost tourniquet consisting of a pad, clasp, bracket, rod and shell that can be 3D printed from ABS and used to treat serious injuries By. After receiving calls for help from international aid agencies and medical staff across Ukraine, Glia is now not only letting local medical staff download free design files via Github, but has also launched a fundraiser in hopes of raising $25,000 to make tourniquets and transport them to the wounded.

Glia’s fundraising page reads: “Glia will manufacture tourniquets in Canada and Ukraine and teach how to produce more in battlefield conditions, which will be distributed to Ukrainian hospitals and civilians at risk of serious injury and death. We are witnessing a humanitarian tragedy, with civilians bearing the brunt. We can and must help.”

△ Three Glia3D printed Gaza tourniquets.

Development of Glia

The goal of Project Glia is “to create medical devices that are accessible and manufacturable in low-resource environments” and in recent years they have developed a series of proprietaryclinicalDevices, including Gaza tourniquets, masks, otoscopes and stethoscopes, are already in use around the world.Among them, the stethoscope made by Glia is more “famous”, because Glia said it performs as well as the traditional Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope, but can save some costs by 3D printing, which can make the manufacturing cost only 20 US dollars, and it won the Canadian Medical device production license issued by the Ministry of Health.

The Gaza tourniquet was designed in response to protests in the Palestinian Gaza Strip in 2018, in which around 2,800 people are said to have been injured between March 30 and May 4, 2018. Loubani and Al-Attar, who work at Glia, built 350 devices and went to help. Although some of Glia’s initial models reportedly malfunctioned, after continuous modification and debugging, Glia successfully used 78 modified devices to treat patients. As events in Ukraine continue to escalate, the project’s organizers are now urgently deploying the Gaza tourniquet in Ukraine.

A wounded protester in Gaza wears a Glia Gaza tourniquet. Image via Tarek Loubani in Goliath.

Distributed Manufacturing

Following the successful deployment of the Gaza tourniquet in Palestine, the Glia team is also looking to bring it to Ukraine.Currently, the production cost of this device is only $20, which is approximately
standard
Half the price of a Combat Applied Tourniquet (CAT), and with further development, the Glia team believes this could bring the cost down to $13.33.
To achieve this, Glia is seeking to raise an initial capital of $20,000 so that 1,500 tourniquets can be manufactured, and has pledged to use any additional funds generated to cover the cost of the project. Furthermore, if Russia decides to end the war against the Ukrainian people, the group has pledged to send the equipment to other conflict zones, as injured civilians still need medical treatment.

Glia has also released a repository containing Torniquet’s bill of materials, print models and assembly instructions, as well as the organization’s own latest production technologies.The device’s developers say their goal in doing so is to make medical device design models accessible to anyone, so that anyone with3D printerAnyone can make it in Ukraine or abroad.In a recent Medium post, Loubani wrote “For anyone wishing to start tourniquet production and have experience in medical device production, please contact us and we will help your shop produce tourniquets. The goal is to create a tourniquet that will meet Ukrainian needs. Distributed manufacturing capabilities.” Loubani also encourages those without medical production experience to leave it to professionals, those with the ability to do their part in Ukraine now have access to the Gaza tourniquet design files, and those without Those who are able are encouraged to donate to Glia’s fundraiser.

A series of prosthetic limbs made by Syrian Relief for people injured in the Syrian civil war. Image via Syrian Relief.

3D printing in war zones

As compared to traditional manufacturing methods,3D printing technologyIncreasing availability and cost-effectiveness, has been used many times in war zones to help those who need it.

●As early as 2018, the British charity Syrian Relief stated that the demand for prosthetic limbs in the ongoing Syrian civil war could be met by 3D printing, and called on the British government to provide support.open sourcesoftwaredeveloper.

●VFRAME has developed a method to create 3D printed replicas of war zone munitions designed to help human rights investigators investigate potential abuses. These devices are SLA 3D printerManufactured, modeled after illegal cluster bombs allegedly used in Syria, Yemen and Sudan.

The applications of 3D printing in the defense industry are well known, and the technology has been used to create weapons components, as well as bandages needed to heal the wounded. The Department of Defense needs to make better use of 3D technology as a powerful enabler for its development.

(responsible editor: admin)

Medical device developer Glia: Using 3D printed tourniquets to help the wounded in Ukraine

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