Italian additive manufacturing start-up Isinnova has reverse engineered and 3D printed a crucial valve for an overrun hospital in Chiari, a small town in Lombardy which is among the areas worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The valve is a key component of Venturi oxygen masks, which are connected to ventilators and used to help patients with respiratory diseases like coronavirus Covid-19 breathe.
Of the almost 3,000 people that have died of the coronavirus in Italy, at least 1,420 were in Lombardy, and hospitals in the area have shortages of beds and medical equipment.
The supplier of the Chiari hospital was unable to provide the crucial valve due to the unprecedented demand, leading a local journalist to reach out to the community of 3D printing companies in the area.
 

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Isinnova and its CEO Cristian Fracassi volunteered and contacted the valve's original manufacturer, Intersurgical.
However as they couldn't obtain the 3D models of the part, Fracassi reverse engineered its structure and was able to 3D print the first prototype within six hours using a filament extrusion system.
"The valve has very thin holes and tubes, smaller than 0.8m - it's not easy to print the pieces," Fracassi told the BBC.
"Plus you have to respect not [contaminating] the product ? really it should be produced in a clinical...