Moved by the news coming from her home country and aware of the severe shortage of medical supplies for treating fractures and injuries, IQS Venezuelan engineering student Lucía Camila Castellanos Pérez decided to mobilise resources from Spain to help those affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela.
An IQS student launches a 3D printing network to send medical splints to Venezuela following the recent earthquakes
With the support of IQS and the collaboration of the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering, open-source designs developed by international bioengineering networks were adapted and optimised with the aim of producing medical splints using 3D printing technology.
The project has focused on manufacturing thermoformable splints for the forearm, wrist and neck. These pieces, made from lightweight, quick-to-produce plastic materials, offer an effective and accessible solution for immobilising injuries. Once they reach healthcare centres, medical staff need only immerse them in hot water to mould and adjust them precisely to each patient’s anatomy.
After several days of intense work, in which students who put their home 3D printers at the service of the initiative also took part, more than 300 splints of different models were manufactured, which have already been sent to Venezuela to help in the care of affected patients.
The University Social Responsibility Unit (RSU) would like to extend special thanks to everyone involved who made this act of solidarity possible. In particular, thanks go to the institution for providing facilities and materials, as well as to the work of the Department of Industrial Engineering, whose coordination made it possible to launch the campaign and complete production in record time.