Ithaca company designs medical face shield for hospital in COVID-19 fight

ITHACA — Incodema Inc., an Ithaca–based sheet-metal provider, announced it has designed a new face shield that can be sanitized and reused in health-care facilities during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The company says it responded to “the call to action” of the Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) in Ithaca to find a solution to the face-shield shortage.

Incodema says its team recognized the challenges that are characteristic of most face shields, including plastic 3D printed versions. That is they are single use or can be only cleaned a limited number of times before needing to be discarded due to the integrity of the headgear.

By using stainless steel instead of plastic for the headgear, a new design was created which could be sanitized and reused. Incodema delivered the first prototypes for trial, collaborated with CMC on iterating the design, made modifications (such as a better-fitting band and optional fastener holes for longer-term use), and had the headgear and shield tested by medical personnel at CMC. This all happened in a matter of days. 

Incodema is making this design available and has posted the open-source CAD file on its website (www.incodema.com) for any sheet-metal manufacturer to have the ability to make the shield and headgear for their local medical providers. 

Incodema says it is a small business started in 2001 as a short-run, precision sheet-metal provider. Sean Whitaker is the company CEO and founder. Illa Burbank is Incodema’s president.