Mechanical Ventilator using parts of a Creality Ender 3 3D Printer

thingiverse

Watch the video for a proper explanation. https://youtu.be/apzCWrx-A8c We are working on a Ventilator Design that can be put into use if there is a shortage of Ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients. What we are working on is to make a Mechanical Ventilator using parts of a Creality Ender 3 3D Printer. Before we proceed with the details, please remember that this project is a work in progress and is not yet tested. With your feedback and ideas, together we can bring this design into life. The Creality Ender 3 3D Printer is one of the most widely used 3D Printers around the world. Not only the 3D Printer, but the parts with which it is made are simple materials and easily available worldwide. The parts of the 3D printer that we have used are: X axis Aluminium Extrusion Top bar Aluminum Extrusion Extruder Plate along with Wheels Assembly Nema 17 Stepper motor of X axis Extruder Belt Pulley at the end of X axis X axis Stepper motor plate Along with these parts we have designed a V shape Structure to hold the Ambu Bag. This design is made in such a way that it is compatible with different size Ambu Bags. It holds the bag firmly and prevents slipping away. We have also made a design of an end effector that will be used for compression and release of the Ambu bag. It is designed in such a way that a large surface area acts on the Ambu bag causing it to exert maximum force for its decompression. Using the parts of the Ender 3 and the parts that we designed, we were able to come up with this mechanism to automate the manual ventilation process. The Ventilator Design consists of a Vertical Axis made from the X axis of the Ender 3. A Roller Assembly which is the Plate with wheels on which the extruder is mounted, is used to move along the Vertical Axis. The top bar of the Ender 3 is used here as the Horizontal Axis which is mounted on the Extruder plate firmly. A Nema 17 stepper motor, belt and pulley which are parts of the 3D printer X axis, is being used to drive the Roller Assembly up and down the Vertical Axis. The working of the device is simple. The Ambu Bag is placed on the V shape Structure. The horizontal bar on which the end effector is attached moves up and down causing the Ambu Bag to Compress and Decompress. The Stepper motor can be controlled using an Arduino Board or Raspberry Pi with a simple program for the motor movement. In a minute, the Ambu Bag needs to be compressed and decompressed about 6 times for a normal breathing of the patient. This device can help in achieving it, with its simple and fast movement of the motor controlled axis. Speeds up to 200 mm/s can be achieved on an Ender 3 and probably this device can be put to use for emergency situations where ventilators are required to save patients. The design is open source and available on all major platforms for you to share your feedback, ideas and work on the design to improve it. With your help and contribution to this project, we can definitely achieve our goal of helping doctors save lives and fight against COVID-19. Thank you.