CARDAM provided the Ministry of Health with the first masks against coronavirus

Praha, 7th May 2020– CARDAM completed today the delivery of five thousand pieces of protective masks RP95-M for the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. The ministry will buy total of 50,000 masks.

The RP95-M protective masks from the CARDAM research and development centre ensure the maximum level of protection and are intended primarily for those who are “on the front line “, i.e. doctors, nurses, or rescue workers. The original model was developed by scientists at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) of the Czech Technical University in Prague and the mask was made on 3D printers. Compared to the initial production, key parts are now produced on injection molding machines, making production significantly faster and cheaper.

“The RP95-M masks are the result of a unique cooperation of experts from top scientific institutions with experienced professionals from the industry. I appreciate the speed with which we managed to get this protective equipment into serial production, and I am glad that we can support Czech manufacturers by purchasing a Czech product,” said Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch. It is generally a priority for the Ministry of Health to cooperate primarily with Czech manufacturers, if possible. The Ministry of Health now buys from 20 local manufacturers and cooperates with Czech scientists.

“I consider the support of companies that produce in the Czech Republic crucial. We do our best in this, whether it is special subsidy programs, such as Technology COVID-19, Czech Rise Up, Country for the Future or Trend, the Hack the Crisis hackathon, or the online platform CoVpoint.org. On this platform, there are now 1,688 offers matching requests, including in the field of medical care. The Connecting the Czech Republic portal can be considered a superstructure of CoVpoint.**Now, 70 voluntary projects are involved in it, and through it, 325 free online crisis interventions have taken place,” adds Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček.

The mask is a purely Czech product, with almost thirty local companies having participated in or contributed to the development. The licensor and owner of the industrial design is the start-up company TRIX Connections of CIIRC CVUT, whose team of scientists is actively involved in the further development and modification of the mask. CARDAM, which is a joint venture of the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the industrial companies Beneš and Lát and CZG – Česká zbrojovky Group, participated in the development of the mask and its rapid commissioning into production. and covers the entire production. The assembly takes place in the company CZ-AUTO SYSTEMS under the supervision of the experienced designers and technologists from the CARDAM.

“Delivery to the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic is our priority, as it is intended for front-line workers.**I would like to thank all those involved in the project for their active approach and timely delivery of parts so that we can meet our obligations to the state,” said CARDAM CEO Ondřej Kurkin.

Thanks to durable materials, the RP95-M mask can be repeatedly sterilized, its service life is set at a minimum of 100 sterilization cycles in an autoclave and an unlimited number of disinfections. The replaceable P3 R filters exceed the protection level of class FFP3. In addition, in a clean hospital environment, the filter life is at least one week of continuous operation.

CARDAM delivered the first batch of five thousand pieces of masks to the warehouse of the Administration of State Material Reserves in Sedlčany. This delivery took place under the accelerated certification mode. At the same time, full certification is underway, after the completion of which the ministry will take over the remaining 45,000 masks.

CARDAM, s. r. o., is a unique research and development centre that focuses on the implementation of new technically and technologically advanced solutions and products using additive metal production. CARDAM provides applied research and development services, a complete engineering solution for creating new applications and manufacturing processes, helping companies create the necessary knowledge and know-how in the new area of additive design and manufacturing. Additive design and production are among the most important technological directions developed worldwide in the framework of the “Industrial Revolution 4.0”.