A medical device manufacturer threatened to sue a group of volunteers from Italy, who printed on a 3D printer a valve used to treat coronavirus. Such a valve from the manufacturer costs about $ 11,000 , but volunteers were able to print copies for about $ 1.
A hospital in Italy needed breathing tubes for an intensive care machine after a provider said it could not produce them on time. She turned to the editor of the local newspaper Giornale di Brescia for help with disseminating information about her situation and involved technical expert Massimo Temporelli in finding a suitable 3D printer. Christian Fracassi and Alessandro Ramaioli, who work in the Italian Isinnova startup, responded to the call. Thanks to the timely delivery of the tubes, at least 10 lives were saved.
The manufacturer refused to provide print drawings to the volunteers. However, Fracassi and Ramaioli independently measured the valves and 3D-printed three different versions. After that, the company began to threaten to sue for patent infringement.
“The patients were in danger, and we acted,” Frackassi said on his Facebook. He also said that the startup “has no intention of benefiting from this situation, we are not going to use the design or product beyond the strict need, and we are not going to distribute the drawing.” The company is currently preparing to print another 100 valves for the needs of the hospital.
The actions of startups were endorsed by Italian Technology Minister Paola Pisano on Twitter.
To date, more than 31,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 2,500 deaths from coronavirus have been reported in Italy. These figures are second only to China.
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