Mangaluru: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest concern the world over has been the supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) and masks for front line warriors fighting this disease. In India, the government on several occasions has been quick to convert public health centres and nursing homes into dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, within a short span. This has left doctors and healthcare workers, especially in rural areas,worried, as many of them are not able to procure N95 masks. This lockdown period has prompted Fracktal Works, a Bengaluru based startup, centered on 3D printer manufacturing and product development, incubated at Manipal Institute of Technology (MAHE) in 2015, to study the problem and contribute towards helping health workers.
The Fracktal Works core team, including co-founders Vijay Raghav Varada and Rohit Asil, who are MIT alumni, and Raghav Sridhar from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, who have collaborated with Vaibhav Hegde, founder Hatch Bengaluru, along with other entrepreneurs, to produce face shields primarily for healthcare professionals serving in rural areas. The first consignment of 600 face shields will be donated to the doctors serving in 88 rural hospitals in the coastal belt.
Rohit Asil said: “Two weeks ago, we were speaking to a few doctors, and trying to assess how we can be of use during this hour of need. Our general business is shut. We looked at the 3D printing industries world over, and are now producing face shields and auxiliary components. We intensified our research after speaking to doctors,” he said.
The team decided to produce face shields after an interaction with a doctor from Dakshina Kannada. The doctor, from a rural health centre, was assigned the duty to check on quarantined patients every day. His worry was not about him contracting the virus due to lack of equipment, but was about the hospital not having a doctor to treat him, in the possibility that he himself tested positive for Covid-19. “This was a powerful statement, and a turning point, which enabled us to quickly research the problem on why we should capitalise on shields instead of masks. A mask does not cover the eyes, which are a gateway for pathogens. The culture of wearing goggles is not popular in India, even in private hospitals. A face shield would add an extra layer of protection, which was also suggested by World Health Organisation (WHO), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, US, as well as other international agencies, and would help prolonging the use of N-95 masks,” said Raghav Sridhar.
They intend to reach out to 88 public health centres in the coastal belt. A crowdfunding campaign was launched on Sunday. Within 10 hours, they reached the target of Rs 1.5 lakh, to produce 1,000 face shields. Overwhelmed with the response, they extended the target to Rs 2.5 lakh to produce 1,500 face shields, and right now the campaign is aiming to collect Rs 5 lakh for 3,000 face shields. “These face shields will be donated to specific hospitals that are away from cities, where there are no proper logistics, are difficult to reach and there are less doctors. We have also received calls from Gwalior, where a small nursing home has been converted into a Covid-19 relief centre. The face shields will be shipped by Tuesday,” said Rohit.
The 3D printer was used to make the first 500 face shields. They have now shifted to injection moulding. The current capacity is to produce 5,000 face shields per day, in case we receive funding, he said. Fracktal works are willing to produce more face shields if they receive funding from the state government.
PC: Fractal Works team with face shields produced by them
The Fracktal Works core team, including co-founders Vijay Raghav Varada and Rohit Asil, who are MIT alumni, and Raghav Sridhar from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, who have collaborated with Vaibhav Hegde, founder Hatch Bengaluru, along with other entrepreneurs, to produce face shields primarily for healthcare professionals serving in rural areas. The first consignment of 600 face shields will be donated to the doctors serving in 88 rural hospitals in the coastal belt.
Rohit Asil said: “Two weeks ago, we were speaking to a few doctors, and trying to assess how we can be of use during this hour of need. Our general business is shut. We looked at the 3D printing industries world over, and are now producing face shields and auxiliary components. We intensified our research after speaking to doctors,” he said.
The team decided to produce face shields after an interaction with a doctor from Dakshina Kannada. The doctor, from a rural health centre, was assigned the duty to check on quarantined patients every day. His worry was not about him contracting the virus due to lack of equipment, but was about the hospital not having a doctor to treat him, in the possibility that he himself tested positive for Covid-19. “This was a powerful statement, and a turning point, which enabled us to quickly research the problem on why we should capitalise on shields instead of masks. A mask does not cover the eyes, which are a gateway for pathogens. The culture of wearing goggles is not popular in India, even in private hospitals. A face shield would add an extra layer of protection, which was also suggested by World Health Organisation (WHO), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, US, as well as other international agencies, and would help prolonging the use of N-95 masks,” said Raghav Sridhar.
They intend to reach out to 88 public health centres in the coastal belt. A crowdfunding campaign was launched on Sunday. Within 10 hours, they reached the target of Rs 1.5 lakh, to produce 1,000 face shields. Overwhelmed with the response, they extended the target to Rs 2.5 lakh to produce 1,500 face shields, and right now the campaign is aiming to collect Rs 5 lakh for 3,000 face shields. “These face shields will be donated to specific hospitals that are away from cities, where there are no proper logistics, are difficult to reach and there are less doctors. We have also received calls from Gwalior, where a small nursing home has been converted into a Covid-19 relief centre. The face shields will be shipped by Tuesday,” said Rohit.
The 3D printer was used to make the first 500 face shields. They have now shifted to injection moulding. The current capacity is to produce 5,000 face shields per day, in case we receive funding, he said. Fracktal works are willing to produce more face shields if they receive funding from the state government.
PC: Fractal Works team with face shields produced by them
