A decade ago, Tarek Loubani, an emergency medicine physician and Kuwait-born Palestinian refugee, developed the world’s first 3D-printed stethoscope to address the medical equipment crisis in under-resourced global communities. In 2016, he founded the Glia Project, and the organization is now actively printing critical medical equipment for providers in conflict zones like Gaza and the Ukraine, according to STAT News. The group aims to empower local communities to produce their own 3D-printed equipment with the open-source designs.
What else? Besides stethoscopes, Glia’s approximately 20-person team produces tourniquets, otoscopes, and caps for dialysis patients. Open-source pulse oximeters and electrocardiograms are currently under development as well. Glia operates from locations in Canada, the United States, Poland, and Gaza, selling the 3D-printed devices at cost.