{"id":32850,"date":"2021-09-16T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=32850"},"modified":"2021-09-16T16:20:12","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T16:20:12","slug":"origami-3d-printed-ventilation-system-160920215","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/origami-3d-printed-ventilation-system-160920215\/","title":{"rendered":"An Origami 3D-Printed Ventilation System to Fight COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">At Simon Fraser University in Canada, a team of researchers led by Professor Kim Woo Soo developed a 3D-printed ventilation system to fight COVID-19.<\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"> Drawing inspiration from the art of Japanese folding, better known as origami, the team was able to reduce the weight, size, and production cost of the portable system, which is made up of 95% of 3D-printed parts. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">This portable ventilation system could be of use to any patient who may need an easily transportable device outside of hospitals, such as patients in isolated rural areas, countries where access to health care is more difficult, or healthcare establishments that are treating a higher than normal volume of patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">As you know, the recent global health crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of our supply chains, especially in the medical sector. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Additive manufacturing has been able to provide short and medium-term answers to allow rapid access to care solutions such as <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-respirator-250320205\/\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">respiratory masks<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">, <\/span><\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-medical-equipment-covid-19-240320205\/#!\">valves<\/a>,<\/span><\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"> or even some ventilation systems. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">As mandates are eased and daily activities have a semblance of normalcy, COVID-19 is still present and the medical sector remains on alert. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">In preparation for a possible new wave, researchers at Simon Fraser University have designed a ventilation system that is easier to transport and less expensive to produce.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WIy6s-eSfZY\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p><div class=\"dnati-inside-article-leaderboard\" style=\"text-align: center;\" id=\"dnati-2534295544\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/app.swapcard.com\/login\/event\/additiv-defense-2026\/ticket\/VGlja2V0VHlwZV83MDM4MQ==\/page\/UmVnaXN0cmF0aW9uRm9ybV81NjE4Ng==\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"LB (4)\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/LB-4.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">This system was designed to provide patients with assisted breathing. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">The ventilator&#8217;s design incorporates a 3D-printed tube in origami, considerably reducing the size of the machine while optimizing its mechanical resistance. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Kim Woo Soo specifies: <em>&#8220;<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><em><span style=\"font-size: 1em; vertical-align: inherit;\">In our origami portable fan, more than 95% of the components can be 3D printed, which is why it is really cost-effective. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1em; vertical-align: inherit;\">Other portable devices can cost over $2,000, but our 3D-printed fan can be produced for around $200.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Due in part to the use of ultralight materials, the system weighs only 4.5 kilograms. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">The team did not specify which process was used, but we imagine that it is an <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/fused-deposition-modeling100420174\/\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">extrusion technology<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">In any case, this device could well help patients who do not have access to a nearby hospital setting. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Kim and his team have also started research on the manufacture of 3D-printed origami dry electrodes that could detect and monitor physiological signals such as temperature, heart rate, or muscle movement. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">You can find more information <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfu.ca\/sfunews\/stories\/2021\/09\/technology-takes-the-art-of-origami-into-the-fight-against-covid.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">HERE<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">*Thumbnail Photo Credits: Simon Fraser University<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>What do you think of this 3D-printed ventilation system? Let us know in a comment below or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Dnatives\/\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/3Dnatives_en\/\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages. Don\u2019t forget to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printing-newsletter\/\">newsletter<\/a>, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n<div class=\"dnati-after-content\" id=\"dnati-657042554\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/amcoe.org\/event\/design-for-additive-manufacturing-design-at-elevation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DfAM course-850&#215;150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-600x106.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-768x136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-160x28.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Simon Fraser University in Canada, a team of researchers led by Professor Kim Woo Soo developed a 3D-printed ventilation system to fight COVID-19. Drawing inspiration from the art of Japanese folding, better known as origami, the team was able&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6083,"featured_media":32851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medical","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6083"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32879,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32850\/revisions\/32879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}