Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients by 3D printing valves

Re:Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients by 3D printing v... by mattkrause on Monday March 16, 2020 @10:01AM (#22592749)

Note that it's 121˚C (and under pressure), not a tepid water bath.

Things like needle drivers and forceps hold up fine with some care, but things with delicate moving parts are not supposed to be autoclaved. Plastics depend on the material--some are fine, some deform.

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Re:Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients by 3D printing v... by kragen on Monday March 16, 2020 @10:54AM (#22593236)

Right, I didn't mean 121° Frankenstein, and I see now that my comment could be misinterpreted as meaning that all common plastics would be fine, when actually I only meant nylon, polydimethylsiloxane, and a few others — and even for nylon I should have been more specific.

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Re:Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients by 3D printing v... by mattkrause on Monday March 16, 2020 @11:49AM (#22593683)

I was just trying to emphasize that it's a fairly...aggressive process.

You can pasteurize eggs at ~135˚F and they're practically uncooked. The autoclave isn't like that at all--15-20 min at full temp/pressure plus the rampup/down times can do a number on things.

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Re:Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients by 3D printing v... by kragen on Monday March 16, 2020 @12:09PM (#22593834)

I appreciate you having clarified my comment with your emphasis! It was definitely needed.

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