A 3D-printer company in Italy has designed and printed 100 life-saving respirator valves in 24 hours for a hospital that had run out of them...The valve connects patients in intensive care to breathing machines. The hospital, in Brescia, had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care and the valves are designed to be used for a maximum of eight hours at a time...The 3D-printed version cost less than €1 (90p) each to produce and the prototype took three hours to design. — BBC

Cristian Fracassi, a chief executive at Isinnova, an independent research institute in Italy, and mechanical engineer Alessandro Romaioli teamed up to aid the hospitals need for new valves. Partnering with Lonati, another local 3D-printing company, the group began printing to meet the hospital's demand, BBC reports.

The Verge initially reported that the medical company that manufactures the valves threatened to sue the group who printed the valves, but later corrected the error, clarifying that the manufacturer could not provide the 3D-printing group with files regarding the valve's production due to regulations. The volunteers printed the valves for about $1 while the manufacturer sells them for about $11,000.

