Doctors and engineers in the Gaza Strip have created the first locally manufactured 3D-printed external fixator, offering surgeons a new way to treat severe fractures as hospitals continue to face widespread shortages of medical supplies.
The device, produced under blockade conditions, is made using recycled plastic and solar-powered 3D printers operated by the medical manufacturing group Glia. Three patients have received the fixator since August, and all avoided possible amputation. Twelve others are waiting for treatment as production expands.
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah said the fixator was developed after Gaza repeatedly ran out of conventional equipment needed for trauma care.
“Gaza, as a result of continuous Israeli attack, consumes more external fixators than is possible economically to bring in and even physically through the siege to bring in,” he said. “The health system was running out of external fixators repeatedly during the last two years, and I understand it currently has zero stock.”
The project was co-designed by Palestinian engineers working inside Gaza and Glia team members in Canada and the United Kingdom. Jen Wilson, Glia’s Director of Manufacturing and Design, spent four weeks in Gaza this fall and said the engineering process depended entirely on materials that could be sourced locally.
“We focused on what could be built with what Gaza actually has,” she said. “That meant using recycled plastics, locally sourced materials and solar power in a place where electricity is often completely unavailable.”
Wilson said production had to be scheduled around unpredictable daylight hours to keep printers running. She added that testing requiring sustained power was completed in Canada, while training and device assembly took place in Gaza.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Deirdre Nunan, who has worked in Gaza several times, said chronic shortages have forced surgeons to improvise with incompatible or incomplete equipment.
“We were running out of all of the components of external fixators,” she said. “We were trying to cobble together different sets, and they were not always compatible.”
Glia says conventional imported fixators can cost more than $500 and are often blocked from entering Gaza. The locally made version is designed to be affordable and reproducible under low-resource conditions. The organization does not patent its devices and shares its designs openly for use in other crisis-affected regions.
Glia continues to collect clinical data as more patients receive the device. Supporters can contribute to production through LaunchGood.
