Help fix medical devices with the Open Gaza Initiative
Tarek Loubani.1, Ugo Vallauri.2, Dorotea Gucciardo.1, Alissa Centivany.3
1. Glia 2. Restart Project 3. Western University
It’s easy to overlook rundown and broken medical devices in Gaza given how many other problems and shortages there are. Numerous medical devices — sometimes rare and expensive — don’t work because they are missing a part that cannot be imported due to the blockade or a lack of funds. Still other “zombie” devices are barely functional, like X-Ray machines that produce poor quality films because gears are worn down by abrasive chemicals.
Glia is launching the Open Gaza Initiative to train teams of biomedical engineers to diagnose, maintain and fix broken and deteriorating medical devices using available materials and 3D printed parts. You can join this effort by donating and helping us spread the word!
The global right to repair
Right to repair is a worldwide movement led by luminaries such as The Restart Project and iFixit. This movement prevents hundreds of thousands of devices and things from going into the garbage by democratizing repair and reuse. However, the right to repair movement has tended to avoid medical devices because of the need for medical equipment to operate at a high level and the risks of amateur repair efforts.
This apprehension is multiplied by the looming threat of patent litigation both by medical device companies and patent troll companies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation documented this development in a recent report highlighting abusive patent litigation practices. One example was Labrador Diagnostics, a patent troll that sued makers of COVID-19 tests at a time when they were desperately needed.
Missing parts and missing knowledge
The Open Gaza Initiative addresses two key deficits needed to repair medical devices in hospitals and clinics.
The first is a lack of materials like spare parts. Usually, a biomedical engineering department in a hospital or ministry of health has a healthy stock or easy access to parts, especially simple parts like gears and switches. Unfortunately, the blockade makes importing parts tedious if not impossible.
Another key deficit is knowledge. The medical device repair industry is closely guarded by manufacturers who hide the knowledge of how to repair in secret maintenance manuals. Some efforts like Frank Weithöner’s Hospital Workshop and iFixit’s medical repair database are trying to open this up, but there are many gaps in open access manuals, schematics and tools.
Fixing medical devices in a throwaway economy
The Open Gaza Initiative will document and catalog medical devices at hospitals and clinics in Gaza — working, in need of maintenance, and broken. Using this information, we will prioritize repairs and refurbishments by ease and impact, aiming to improve the care of patients from the outset of the project. There will be three end products of the project: a repository of spare parts; a database of repair information; and teams of trained personnel who know how to fix machines. All of our work will, needless to say, be openly available for others to use, examine, modify and reproduce.
Support the #OpenGaza initiative now with a generous donation.
Our goal is to create a culture that not only exercises the right to repair, but also makes repair easier in Gaza and across the world. This will save precious resources like money and the environment while decreasing Gaza’s dependence on outside forces to allow medical supplies in.
Support #OpenGaza now!
Glia fosters 3D printing and a culture of hardware independence in Gaza. We’ve had success in projects including PPE4Gaza, tourniquets, and stethoscopes. The Open Gaza Initiative is an ambitious continuation of that tradition, partnering with prestigious international repair organizations to grow a healthy repair culture.
Donate now to our crowdfunding campaign, and share with your friends and family on social media!
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