Optimizing 3D Printed Tourniquets for Immediate Aid in Ukraine

Date
2022
Authors
Brown-Moore, Tosh Kāneala
Balaji, Srivatsan
Lipton, Jeffrey
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Abstract

The outbreak of conflict in Ukraine has been met with a drastic increase in demand for medical devices like the COVID pandemic. Additive manufacturing enables the on-demand onsite manufacturing of medical devices, such as tourniquets, necessary to save lives in emergency situations where delivery isn’t an option. Here we show the relative performance of open-source 3D printed GLIA tourniquet components made from ABS and PETG and compare them to a commercially available combat application tourniquet (CAT). Using a variety of mechanical tests, our results demonstrate that tourniquet components printed with PETG are the best alternative to commercially available tourniquets in terms of cost and mechanical properties. We used this work to guide aid efforts for Ukraine through the Open-Source Medical Supply Organization.

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