WUD, IIT-D, AIIMS, New Delhi, and Loyal Textile Mills (Chennai) collaborate, prototypes undergoing trial, will become open source for all manufacturers
A dedicated team of professors and researchers from India’s top Design & Technology Institutes – The World University of Design, IIT Delhi and AIIMS have designed and developed prototype of an indigenous and economical PPE Kits for Healthcare Workers with support from Chennai based Loyal Textile Mills is the manufacturer partner. The prototypes are currently following the required protocol and are undergoing a second round of testing at a hospital in Chennai. The key feature of this design is the ease of doffing, where the garment can be taken off by the person without touching the infected outer surface.
Dr Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor at World University of Design says “The design and production of these kits is open source, therefore any small or medium scale factory interested can take the design from us and start manufacturing them.”
What is special about the new design is that it has the ease of donning and doffing the PPE without help. These sets are designed to make them fit Indian body shapes and sizes. They help avoid loose, hanging parts which may come in contact with infected surfaces and get contaminated. It will provide high level of protection with stringent technical requirements. There are no unnecessary openings which may aid the contagion to pass through the PPE, thereby infecting the person in question. Even micro-openings created while stitching the garment, which may provide a pathway for the virus to enter, are sealed off along with the seams.
The design involving minimum number of seams not only minimizes the risk of seam leakage but is also fast and cheap to produce. Special barrier fabrics which are breathable and provide the highest liquid barrier protection level are used to make the PPE. A combination of all this makes it the perfect PPE kit designed to meet the challenge posed by the COVID-19.
