Tornado Tube the Asthma Inhaler Spacer

thingiverse

Disclaimer: This is not a medical substitute, nor does it replace medical advice. Not all HFA inhalers are designed to work with spacers. Commercially available spacers can be obtained by contacting your doctor or pharmacist. Some have specialized antistatic inner linings and one-way valves. The inspiration for this came from a post in the Open Source COVID-19 Medical Supplies Facebook group, where patients were unable to use nebulizers due to aerosolization risks. A spacer can be used with a metered dose inhaler (MDI) to disperse medication and reduce particle deposition in the mouth, thereby allowing more medication to reach the lungs. This design challenge was interesting, but it may have come too late to be helpful since spacers were in short supply at that time. This design is intended to print quickly and easily in "vase mode." It took about an hour to print, and can be printed either in one piece or ideally split into two halves. The split design allows the two parts to twist together, which also makes it easy to disassemble and clean. See below for additional printing information.