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WesternU College of Optometry professor 3D printing masks to help local health care providers

by Rodney Tanaka

April 6, 2020

Read 1 mins

WesternU College of Optometry Associate Professor Joshua Cameron holds a red 3D printed mask in his right hand.
WesternU College of Optometry Associate Professor Joshua Cameron, PhD, FAAO, with his 3D printed mask. (Courtesy photo)

Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry Associate Professor D. Joshua Cameron, PhD, FAAO, is 3D printing masks from home to help hospitals with equipment shortages, and he is calling on others to join the effort.

Cameron based his mask on designs developed by health care professionals in Billings, Montana, who created the website Make the Masks: https://www.makethemasks.com/. He reached out to this group and they asked him to help coordinate mask making in the Los Angeles area. Cameron made a minor change to the design by printing the masks in TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane).

He sent masks to friends at a Kaiser clinic and San Antonio Regional Hospital. He and his collaborators have received requests for 60 more masks and they are on pace to donate nearly three dozen masks this week to Los Angeles County EMTs, Good Samaritan Hospital nurses and others.

Cameron needs additional material to help fulfill the requests he has received, including elastic, TPU and filter material. If you would like to donate materials or use your own 3D printer to make masks, please contact Dr. Joshua Cameron at drcameron@gmail.com, or visit https://www.makethemasks.com/create-a-local-movement.

 

 

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