UF Anesthesiology Teams Up With Wind Engineering Laboratory to Make Economy Face Shields

Aiming to help front-line health care workers from exposure to COVID-19, the University of Florida College of Medicine’s department of anesthesiology has teamed up with UF’s wind engineering laboratory to produce simple face shields and intubation technology when supplies of personal protective equipment were unknown in early April 2020.  

Using a 5-foot by 10-foot table computer numerical control, or CNC, router, and a cutting knife, the UF Powell Family Structures and Materials Laboratory can make thousands of plastic face shields, each in less than one minute. The shields are worn over a mask or respirator to give health care workers added protection for their eyes, face, and skin.

Using designs by Cameron R. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of anesthesiology, and Patrick Tighe, M.D., M.S., an associate professor of anesthesiology, the Powell laboratory was also building an aerosol plexiglass tray to fit on a bedside table or Mayo stand that holds surgical instruments and materials. The see-through tray, which can be sterilized, extends over a patient’s head and is covered by a surgical drape for use during intubation. 

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