3D PRINTING AND ITS ROLE DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2022-01, Vol.1224 (1), p.12006
• Main Authors: Zainul Arefeen, Mohammed, Bin Mehare, Hussam, Hassan Murtaza, Mohammad, Shamsi, Mustafa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3-D printers; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Masks; New technology; Pandemics; Three dimensional printing
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/1224/1/012006

The current COVID-19 pandemic took the entire world by surprise, making us realize how far we had been lagging behind in the development of new technologies which makes the entire fabrication process more efficient and faster. During the pandemic, worldwide there was a shortage of basic medical equipments PPE kits, masks, syringes, ventilator pipes & masks, etc. All we needed at that time was a faster and more cost-efficient fabrication technology which would have kept pace with the growing demands of these basic equipments as the situation went from bad to worse. 3D-Printing, we believe is the future of the manufacturing and fabrication sector as it’s faster compared to our current technology and much more efficient when seen from an economic and an environmental point of view. In this paper, we have talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc worldwide on their healthcare systems with thousands of people dying every day due to the lack of basic medical equipments. All these challenges could have been met head-on if the abilities of 3D Printing were exploited on a larger scale. We have tried to offer a brief insight into how 3D Printing can change our lives for the better and make it a lot easier once 3D Printing reaches its full potential.