Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have designed a 3D-printed ventilator valve that helps patients breathe.
The ventilator valves are called positive end-expiratory pressure, also known as PEEP. The disposable parts are used with ventilators to ensure patients’ lungs retain some air and do not collapse when exhaling. A new valve must be used for each patient.
The UT Dallas team is seeking emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so it can distribute the parts to hospitals that need them, the university said in an announcement.
Development of the PEEP valves began in March as a way to address possible shortages of ventilators during the volatile coronavirus pandemic. Researchers are also working to manufacture testing swabs and personal protective equipment.
UT Dallas’ 3D-printing team is one of several university groups across the country working to increase the supply of ventilators and protective equipment. It closed the UTDesign Studio, where engineering students work on senior capstone projects, to create the COVID-UT Dallas Response Lab (CURL).
“We’re excited to be able to use 3D-printing technology to manufacture equipment that could save the lives of COVID-19 patients and protect the health care workers caring for them,” Walter Voit, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and mechanical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, said in a prepared statement.
Voit is the principal investigator who runs the Advanced Polymer Research Lab and one of the faculty members leading the valve effort. He is also founder and CEO of Adaptive 3D Technologies, a company launched through the UT Dallas Venture Development Center. The company supplied the rubber used in the inner component and the outer casing in some of the valves.
In April, UT Dallas announced that two alumni designed and manufactured a valve attachment that turns a snorkel mask into protective gear for health care workers.