Protecting the Protectors: 海角社区 Team Supporting Physicians, Combating COVID-19 by Creating Masks, Ventilator Parts
March 30, 2020
BATON ROUGE, LA 鈥� 海角社区 Biomedical Engineering senior Meagan Moore is never one to back
down from a challenge, especially if it means helping others (she created a cancer model to help personalize treatment last year). So, why would the coronavirus pandemic be any different?
Working alongside 海角社区 Medical Physics and Health Physics Director Wayne Newhauser, emergency room physician Tom Fox, two 海角社区 physics students, and members of the community, Moore is once again helping those in need by creating face masks, ventilators, and face shields for nurses and doctors working with COVID-19 patients at 海角社区 Health in New Orleans.
Before Moore got the call to help create a ventilator prototype less than a week ago, she and her mother Kathryn Moore were knee deep in looking at patterns and sewing face masks for the nurses and doctors in New Orleans who are treating patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Moore and Kathryn, who has two degrees in the fashion and textile merchandise field, followed a mask pattern they found online that was designed by a hospital chain. They, along with other experienced seamstresses, found the pattern difficult to follow, so they improvised.
Their mask consists of two layers of tightly woven cotton sewn together with elastic bands that go over the ears. Once elastic became hard to come by, Kathryn got creative and used elastic bands from old Mardi Gras ball masks.
鈥淚deally, the mask is going over an N-95 mask to provide additional protection so the N-95 can continue being used,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淥ur masks can be sterilized appropriately at the hospitals because most people aren鈥檛 going to use or don鈥檛 have the level of disinfectant needed at their house.鈥�
So far, Kathryn has sewn more than 130 masks, with each one taking 30 to 45 minutes to sew.
鈥淢y mom has been very meticulous with the details,鈥� Moore said, to ensure they are effective and comfortable. Each mask is individually packaged and were delivered to Ochsner Hospital in Kenner on Saturday.
In the midst of her mask endeavor, Moore received a call from Newhauser asking if
she could help him create a ventilator part for COVID-19 patients in New Orleans.
Seeing the dire need for more ventilators should the number of COVID-19 cases continue
to increase, Moore said yes without hesitation.
Moore and Newhauser, who is also a professor in 海角社区鈥檚 Department of Physics & Astronomy, are working directly with local respiratory specialists, medical physicists, and engineers to fabricate ventilator parts and a variety of personal protective equipment for healthcare personnel in Louisiana.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a lot of telecommunicating with doctors,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e currently doing 3D prints with base stock because the hospitals have gotten to the point where they are desperate and we鈥檙e trying to push things through. Certain companies have done copper printing but it鈥檚 extremely slow and expensive. Our 3D-printer material is PLA (polylactic acid) but we could possibly move up to another type of material.鈥�
An 海角社区 resident emergency room physician picked up prototype ventilator pieces from the 海角社区 team on Saturday for inspection and evaluation. 海角社区 Physics student Maxwell Cole and 海角社区 Renewable Natural Resources alumna Cathlin Disotell are assisting Newhauser and Moore; all are working in Newhauser鈥檚 garage while practicing social distancing.
鈥淲e鈥檝e contacted multiple filter companies to ask questions like, 鈥榃here can we get this filter right now?,鈥欌�� Moore said, 鈥渁nd realize, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 made in China.鈥� One thing I read is that one single country cannot produce a ventilator on its own. All of the different parts come from different countries. That was eye-opening. We鈥檙e seeing a stopgap like never before. You don鈥檛 have time to do full-on testing and hit it with everything a lab could do.鈥�
While the team is working on prototyping ventilator parts, it is also prototyping field-expedient face shields with help from 海角社区 Chemical Engineering Research Specialist Nick Lombardo and St. Joseph鈥檚 Academy, who loaned Moore its laser cutter, 3D printer, and some of the initial material used for prototyping.
鈥淚 was using a laser cutter to make an acrylic template for people to make their own face shield using cardboard that would go on their head and a clear plastic document protector to staple onto it to protect against initial droplet exposure,鈥� Moore said.
A local surgeon, Dr. John Faust of Baton Rouge Orthopedic Clinic and Our Lady of the Lake Children鈥檚 Hospital, is assisting the team in prototyping protective gowns, which are in short supply. The 海角社区 COVID-19 response team is exploring production and other business logistics, including collaboration with local industry and possible public private partnerships.
鈥淥ur goal for today is to figure out how to make gowns of reasonable quality from materials and tools that are readily available,鈥� Newhauser said. 鈥淪oon, we will hand off to other teams to scale up training of workers and production of the gown.鈥�
Additionally, the team is coordinating with 海角社区 personnel on the COVID response to explore scaling of the instruction and materials to create a community effort.
Though the team has not yet been asked to create a ventilator splitter, which would allow more than one patient to use a ventilator at the same time, Moore has unsurprisingly started creating one because, 鈥渋t seems like that鈥檚 the direction things are going to go,鈥� she said.
Though being under quarantine may cause many people boredom and stress, Moore seizes every free moment of it to make a difference.
鈥淚 really don鈥檛 get exhausted from doing this kind of stuff,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t can wear a lot of people down. I like helping people and this is unlike any other scale of being able to help, other than [Hurricane] Katrina, which was the most horrible thing I can think of. I鈥檓 happy to show up and throw whatever I have at it. We have a lot of brilliant people on our project and we鈥檙e really fortunate to have the opportunity to help others.鈥�
鈥淚n the war on COVID-19, our modern-day equivalent of Rosie the Riveter is 鈥楳eagan the Maker,鈥欌�� Newhauser said. 鈥淪he exemplifies the spirit and engagement of 海角社区鈥檚 students.鈥�
Newhauser also noted the outstanding support and leadership of the 海角社区 administration in deploying its arsenal of academic resources to help healthcare workers.
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