My Name is Steven Johnston, I am a Registered Occupational Therapist (OTR/L). I have worked many years in clinical settings and continue to work full time in a rehabilitation setting. I face the current PPE shortage on a daily basis.
I am a 3D print hobbyist and designer, printing and designing various projects for the past 3 years. As we face PPE shortages some of my fellow clinicians asked if could print face shields they saw on the local news. I downloaded and tested several models finding that most had a design flaw in that they relied on “dog ear” wings for lateral attachment of the clear shield. We tried this design in the clinical setting and found that the dog ears were indeed a weak point and had tendency to break after several application and removal of clear shields. This was most notable when print material was PLA. PLA is a favorite of many 3D print hobbyists due to its low cost and ease of printing.
I redesigned the face shield frame eliminating the dog ears and adding several other features for ease of use and increased durability.
Affiliations: My only affiliation is to support those persons that need PPE in order to do their job.