COVER STORY | C OVID-19
The Penlon device is a newlyadapted
ventilator design, adapted
from previous models, that meets
the rapidly manufactured ventilator
system specification. It is a fully
intubated mechanical ventilator
designed to provide support to
critically ill patients with a range
of functions including volume and
pressure-controlled ventilation.
Following the device’s approval,
the government has confirmed an
order for 15,000 Penlon devices.
Hundreds of units were expected to
be built over the following week, with
production being further scaled up in
the coming weeks.
Elsy said: “Ventilators of this type
are complex and critical pieces of
medical equipment, so ensuring the
absolute adherence to regulatory
standards and meeting clinical needs
were always our priorities.”
The consortium will now
accelerate the ramp up of production
at the Penlon site in Oxfordshire and
the new production lines built in
Broughton, Dagenham, Woking and
Maidenhead.
3D printing has also come into
its own during this crisis. In one
example, a trio of manufacturers have
deployed cutting-edge 3D printing
technology to support the NHS in
caring for critically-ill coronavirus
patients.
Wirral-based manufacturer Heap
& Partners worked with Mercedes-
Benz and Airbus to produce
3D-printed valves to convert scubadiving
equipment into ventilator
masks. The manufacturers last month
answered a call for help from frontline
doctors at the Royal Surrey
NHS Foundation Trust.
Clinicians at the Royal
Surrey County Hospital
in Guildford called on
industry to help them
meet unprecedented
demand for COVID-19
patients requiring ventilator
treatment.
In some three weeks the
3D printing has
also come into its own
during this crisis. In one
example, a trio of
manufacturers have deployed
cutting-edge 3D printing
technology to support
the NHS in caring for
critically-ill coronavirus
manufacturers re-deployed 3D
laser printers to produce thousands
of ‘Charlotte’ valves. The Charlotte
valves were used to adapt scuba
diving masks into fully functioning
ventilator masks suitable for use
in emergency therapy in the preintubation
stage.
Heap & Partners is set
to move production of
the valves to injection
moulding in a bid to
rapidly increase the scale
and pace of delivery. The
company also 3D printed
face masks for healthcare
workers treating patients at
Oxford University Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust.
Heap & Partners also set up
a collection point at the firm’s
Birkenhead headquarters for
individuals who have a 3D printer at
home and want to play their part in
the national fight against coronavirus.
While ventilators are certainly
the most high-profile example of
design and engineering stepping
up to the plate during this crisis,
they are certainly not the only one.
The demand for personal protective
equipment (PPE) occasioned by
Covid-19 is well-documented and
there has been a global shortage of
it – something that is critical among
medical personnel.
Here, designers and engineering
companies have stepped in, with 3D
printing having played a significant
part. One example in Inverness
companies, 4c Engineering and
Aseptium, which teamed up to design
and manufacture face shields for
the ICU unit at their local hospital,
Raigmore, making 3,000 face shields
in the first two weeks.
patients
12 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | MAY 2020
/WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK