A GROUP of volunteers are ready to roll out personal-protective equipment (PPE) like face masks and face shields for Covid-19 front-line fighters by using 3D printers.

They are part of the global movement project open air, whose members are pooling ideas and sharing skills to fight the coronavirus pandemic which has caused more than 375,000 infections and around 16,000 deaths.

Kenneth Chai said they are volunteers in the venture to produce face masks and shields, which are in short supply as the country fights the outbreak.

The prototype is designed by a European member of project open air, who shared the knowledge with other members.

“They (members) share their designs and data online and any member in the group can pick it up and use them, and even mass produce them,” Chai told The Malaysian Insight.

“The request from Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching right now is for face masks with filters, the ones used by doctors, nurses and health workers who are directly handling patients with highly infectious diseases, like Covid-19.

“And they are also asking for face shields,” said the 34-year-old physicist and teacher.

The face masks that the Sarawak group can produce are N95, HEPA and P100 rated, and meets Malaysian health safety standards, according to Chai.

N95 masks remove 95% of all particles that are at least 0.3 microns in diameter, while the HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air filter) can trap at least 99.97% of particles with a size of 0.3 microns (micrometres) that enter the filtration system.

P100 masks are oil proof and can remove 99.97% of all particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter or larger.

The masks and shields are not mass produced but from 3D printers in volunteers’ homes.

To sceptics, Chai said they have test data on the effectiveness of the masks and shields, which they’re willing to share with the authorities, doctors and medical experts.

Some doctors, who are not in the Covid-19 front-lines, have tested the items and can vouch that the masks are safe and comfortable to use, Chai said.

The material used is copper-laced instead of popular polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA), which he said is not suitable for Malaysia’s hot and humid climate.

“PLA masks breed bacteria quickly, which can give doctors bacterial infections after several days of use.”

Moreover, some PLA plastics are not stable when they come into contact with certain disinfectants, particularly those containing alcohol.

Reusable items

The masks produced by Chai and his friends are not only cheap to produce, they are reusable.

“They can be used over and over again after proper disinfection. They only need to change the air filters,” he told The Malaysian Insight at his office in Gala City, Kuching, which is also his laboratory and production centre.

Chai has been sleeping there since the Covid-19 movement-control order on a canvas bed in one corner of the office.

“We hope that none of our products will be used, because it would mean that the hospitals are in dire straits.

“At the moment, I’m told they are just hanging on. If our service is needed, we are ready. Our products will be better than having nothing.”

Chai said there are some 17 to 20 3D printers that can be used in Kuching between the group’s volunteers and other like-minded individuals and entities, including the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA).

Around 400 masks can be produced in a day if they use all the available printers, he said.

Sarawak’s project open air members are also looking producing ventilators used by Covid-19 patients, whose severe symptoms require assisted breathing.

Chai said the ventilators are Italian designed and tested in Italian hospitals.

“A ventilator at the Sarawak General Hospital would cost RM200,000 each. Ours produced from the 3D printer is RM100.”

More time is needed to fine-tune this project because of the ventilator’s complex design.

Chai said he hasn’t thought about the possibility that hospitals might not want to use ventilators made by 3D printers.

“We just have to be ready. We cannot be doing nothing. We have to think of next week, next month.” – March 24, 2020.