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3D Printed Spirometer

Spirometers are the classical instrument to perform the parsing of air as it is blown out of your mouth. They consist of a tube that you blow into that records the volume and speed of one breath which are then compared to a set of normal values based on height, wt and sex and are used to follow lung function. The instrument I designed, although tested for accuracy with a flowmeter is not in any way a certified medical device, but in a pinch it certainly could pass for one—giving relative reproducible and accurate accounts of the standard FEV1, FEVC and graphs of volume output and speed over time. I designed it so that the electronics with the expensive tethered sensor were confined to one piece and the easily disposable blow tube with associated virus laden channels was in another. This appears to be one of the drawbacks of standard machines used clinically — replaceable cardboard mouthpieces don’t really eliminate all risks when viruses are airborne and you’re asked to blow long and hard into a very expensive apparatus. The cost of the device is under $40 and anyone with a 3D printer can turn out as many as they want. The software Wifi tethers it to a Blynk app on your smartphone for visualization and allows you to download any data you want.”

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