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A low cost stethoscope was created by a Palestinian-Canadian doctor, Dr. Tarek Loubani, leveraging a 3-D printer for the first time. The doctor say that this stethoscope can be prepared for just $2.50 and hopes it will help as a alternative and useful during medical supply shortages that were caused due to the Gaza Strip- blockade for eight years.

Dr. Loubani’s Glia Project intends to offer medical supplies to impecunious places such as Gaza. He thinks that the medical device shortage in the isolated Palestinian territory can be translated from a big problem to big victory for them in Gaza. The crisis was compounded by harsh political rift between fractions of Palestine, three wars with Israel besides inability to deliver promised money pledges by international donors.

The emergency medicine doctor hopes to “produce these devices locally so they meet local need and so that they are not dependent of the political winds of the Israelis and of the donor community.”

“I’m very happy that patients in Gaza and patients all around the world can now, with these stethoscopes, receive the best care possible,” Dr. Loubani said.

The 34-year-old doctor belonging to London, Ontario, served main hospital of Gaza City ‘Shifa’ during the war for three years between Palestinian militants and Israel in 2012.

After years of research, designing and testing, a plastic prototype was unveiled last month by Dr. Loubani with his team. In Canada, the 3-D printed stethoscope was tested with a balloon filled with water. As per the audio tests, the Glia stethoscope was found to be on par with the Littmann Cardiology III, the model that is leading on the market.

Meinlted layers of red filament were assembled locally by the printer in a circular motion over a heated surface. Dr. Loubani connected the head to red ear tubes and ear tips after the printer finished. 3-D printer also created the red ear tubes and ear tips.

Shifa emergency department head Dr. Ayman Sahbani tested the Glia stethoscope and said, “This is simple, cheap and it’s enough for us here. Now we can make a stethoscope available for each doctor.”

-Sumana