• Posted 11-May-2020

Careables: delivering personalised healthcare solutions against coronavirus

In the backdrop of the current pandemic, an EU-funded project has begun collecting information and sharing open-source designs with the wider public on personalised healthcare solutions to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As the European Commission moves to ensure the supply of PPE across the EU, the Horizon 2020 project Made4You has developed the Careables platform for people and organisations to be able to work together in the face of the crisis, co-designing and producing personalised healthcare materials for everybody to use.

In a world where healthcare demands are constantly changing, Made4You’s mission is to link local communities and medical professionals with designers and manufacturers via the Careables platform, in order to develop open-source solutions for people living with disabilities. The solutions range from wheelchair trailers to customised videogame controllers. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project has adapted its focus to deal with the current crisis, giving people access to items that reduce the chances of them contracting the coronavirus.

The Careables platform allows for stakeholders to share their useful resources and advice, proposing personalised healthcare solutions to protect oneself against the disease. These include items such as facemasks, face shields, sterilisers and ventilators. The process requires three specific components: open-source hardware and software, a nearby 3D printer (for the majority of the products) and a platform to use for inspiration and to share one’s ideas.

The project values responsible production, even in current times of crisis, and has defined a set of core principles that encourage people to make their own items and collaborate with others, providing the support and expertise that everybody needs. It is important to note that, while these 3D-printed objects are reliable and safe to be used privately, they may need to get certified for clinical use from the country of origin. For instance, some of the Careables masks used within a laboratory in Czechia required an EU medical device certification, which took the researchers a few weeks to obtain.

Despite it being a European project, the scope of the platform reaches far beyond Europe, touching countries as far away as Iraq and even India. In Brazil, four partners (LabCOCO, Casa Criatura, Coletivo 3D, and LabProComum) based in the coastal cities of Olinda and Santos function as hubs to connect patients and carers to the Careables community. In early March 2020, Careables was already in contact with the Secretary of Health of Olinda, and together they decided to address the lack of protective equipment in the region by beginning research into developing materials that could halt the spread of the coronavirus, producing up to 140 face shields per day.

Careables has the potential to support various different communities to develop open-source solutions and equipment to help people in need.

Source: Digital Single Market News (https://bit.ly/3chZsiZ)