Consideraciones para la fabricación de pantallas de protección facial por impresión 3D - Covid19

A major challenge posed by the global crisis caused by the health contingency due to COVID-19 has been to design, manufacture, and distribute basic personal protective equipment among health professionals. The considerations described in this technical note are aimed at optimizing the design and digital manufacturing of 3D printed face protection shields composed of polylactic acid (PLA) headbands and transparent polymerizable vinyl chloride (PVC) film. The headband dimensions were determined by anthropometric parameters, thus establishing the distance to be used with glasses and mouthpieces without sacrificing the user’s peripheral vision. The behavior of the material was evaluated under different stresses using finite element analysis. As a result, the optimal values for layer height, line width, wall thickness, fill density, and print speed were defined. However, these parameters caused a decrease in production times. The face shields were sanitized before, during, and after the assembly process and subsequent packaging by immersion in 1% or 2% glutaraldehyde, which is a high-level disinfectant commonly used in hospitals and medical devices because of its bactericidal, fungicidal, virucidal, tuberculocidal, sporicidal, and prionicidal properties.