Zurich-based creative agency Atoll has developed a nonprofit three-dimensional (3D) printed glove remover to assist with improving hygiene practices in hospitals.

The glove remover comprises a piece of curved plastic that is placed over a waste bin and, thanks to a modular fastening system, it can be quickly mounted to various surfaces – walls or even metal bars, whether horizontal or vertical.

Like all surfaces, the glove remover should be disinfected regularly, Atoll co-owner Axel Ekstein says, warning that “it is not intended to be a substitute for hands disinfection”.

The initial design object is made of break-proof and disinfectant-proof polyamide.

While the prescribed routines for changing personal protective equipment are well established, Ekstein explains that the aid offers additional safety by reducing the likelihood of a healthcare worker touching the outside of a contaminated glove with an unprotected finger.

Atoll co-owner Alexander Kranz-Mars says the glove remover combines hygiene and efficiency.

Atoll developed the basic concept for the glove remover with doctors in response to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which emphasised that “the serious problem of coming into contact with germs is accentuated by stress during the current corona pandemic. Specific training can reduce the risk, but it is costly, and the effect quickly fades away”.

Following the development, Swiss 3D printing companies Pragma Engineering, which provided the easy-to-assemble mould, and Rapid Manufacturing, which fed the design data into its laser-sintering machines to produce a series of prototypes, quickly came onboard.

Atoll invites interested parties to print the glove remover themselves using 3D technology and to further improve the design by providing feedback to Atoll.

“The device can do good service not only in the healthcare sector, but everywhere where protective gloves are worn, [such as] the restaurant, food or cosmetics sectors,” the company says.

The design data can be downloaded free of charge from atoll.cc/gloveremover