Researchers at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Guwahati (NIPER-G) have come out with two products — 3D-printed hands-free object and 3D-printed anti-microbial face-shield — that promise to be of great help in the fight against Covid-19 infection.

A Press Information Bureau statement said the 3D-printed hands-free object could be used to help open or close doors, windows, drawers (both vertical and horizontal) and refrigerator handle, press elevator buttons and laptop/desktop keyboards, and turning switches on/off.

These are some of the most germ-infested objects in houses, hospitals, factories, companies, institutes, organisations and other buildings and may play a key role in transmitting infection through bare hand contact or contaminated surface source.

The researchers came up with the design for the fabrication of the 3D-printed object after a detailed analyses of several resources for risk measurement and on how viruses spread through bare hands, the statement said.

Dr U.S.N. Murty, director, NIPER-G, said the product was easy to design and was amenable to rapid development of prototypes. It was also handy, user friendly, non-fragile and easy to clean with the existing sanitisers or any alcoholic disinfectant.

The 3D-printed anti-microbial face-shield has been designed to control the spread of novel coronavirus. It was designed after a thorough study to understand how viruses spread through oral, ophthalmic, olfactory and other body cavities.

The face shield is easy to design and it is possible to have rapid development of prototypes. “It is also low cost, easy to wear, has good chemical stability, non-fragile and is easy to clean with the existing sanitisers or any alcoholic disinfectant,” the statement said.