Open-Source Medical Hardware for Pandemics

Pearce Publications: Energy Conservation • Energy Policy • Industrial Symbiosis • Life Cycle Analysis • Materials Science • Open Source • Photovoltaic Systems • Solar Cells • Sustainable Development • Sustainability Education

Source

• Pearce JM. Distributed Manufacturing of Open Source Medical Hardware for Pandemics. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing. 2020, 4(2), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp4020049 academia open access Preprint

Abstract

Distributed digital manufacturing offers a solution to medical supply and technology shortages during pandemics. To prepare for the next pandemic, this study reviews the state-of-the-art of open hardware designs needed in a COVID-19-like pandemic. It evaluates the readiness of the top twenty technologies requested by the Government of India. The results show that the majority of the actual medical products have some open source development, however, only 15% of the supporting technologies required to produce them are freely available. The results show there is still considerable research needed to provide open source paths for the development of all the medical hardware needed during pandemics. Five core areas of future research are discussed, which include (i) technical development of a wide-range of open source solutions for all medical supplies and devices, (ii) policies that protect the productivity of laboratories, makerspaces, and fabrication facilities during a pandemic, as well as (iii) streamlining the regulatory process, (iv) developing Good-Samaritan laws to protect makers and designers of open medical hardware, as well as to compel those with knowledge that will save lives to share it, and (v) requiring all citizen-funded research to be released with free and open source licenses.

Keywords

pandemic; influenza pandemic; open source; open hardware; COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; medical hardware; open source medicine 

See also

• A review of open source ventilators for COVID-19 and future pandemics
• Parametric Nasopharyngeal Swab for Sampling COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Viruses: Open Source Design, SLA 3-D Printing and UV Curing System
• Maximizing Returns for Public Funding of Medical Research with Open-source Hardware
• Economic Potential for Distributed Manufacturing of Adaptive Aids for Arthritis Patients in the U.S.
• 3-D printing open-source click-MUAC bands for identification of malnutrition
• Emergence of Home Manufacturing in the Developed World: Return on Investment for Open-Source 3-D Printers
• Life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing with open-source 3-D printers
• Distributed Manufacturing of Flexible Products- Technical Feasibility and Economic Viability
• Quantifying the Value of Open Source Hardware Development
• Low-cost open source ultrasound-sensing based navigational support for visually impaired
• Open-Source Three-Dimensional Printable Infant Clubfoot Brace
• Additively Manufactured Parametric Universal Clip-System: An Open Source Approach for Aiding Personal Exposure Measurement in the Breathing Zone
• Emergency mask for hospital ventilators

See also COVID-19 resources from MOST