The brainchild of a doctor in Xanthi, cardiologist Komnenos Gambras, combined with the expertise of his friend, Anestis Papachristou, a self-taught computer engineer, led to the creation of see-through plastic visors, or full-face masks, using a 3D printer.
All the new visors are being printed by a group of seven volunteers, whose aim is to help the overworked medical and nursing staff at the city’s hospital who are continuing to fight against the coronavirus.
With the help of state-of-the-art technology, a great deal of hard work and the use of the appropriate materials, the northern Greek group has already made the first thirty masks and another 100 are on the way.
It takes between two to six hours to 3D-print one of their full-face masks, depending on the type of printer, while 20 masks require one entire kilo of plastic, which shows just how difficult and time-consuming the task is.
The group found the design for the masks in a health-related website from the Czech Republic and then spoke to Greek health authorities, who soon gave the green light to the volunteers to go ahead with their idea.
The seven volunteers are now doing their best to assist their city’s hospital, in an act that demonstrates what ordinary members of our society can achieve when there is a will and the determination to go with it.
