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Engineer Turns Old Snorkeling Masks Into Reusable Face Shields To Help Protect Doctors And Nurses

A bioengineer at Stanford has created a reusable face mask from repurposed snorkeling gear, which could help hospitals struggling to keep doctors and nurses equipped with personal protective equipment.

Developed by Manu Prakash, the Pneumask combines a modified snorkel mask with a 3D printed ventilation port and medical-grade filter to help medical workers breathe more safely filtered air around patients with COVID-19.

The masks cost around $40 to produce and were designed to be reusable to make up for widespread N95 mask shortages.

The Pneumask was created by Stanford bioengineer Manu Prakash as an inexpensive and reusable form of personal protective equipment for medical workers treating COVID-19 patients

The masks also come with a small microphone and speaker that will amplify the medical worker’s voice to make them easier to understand while wearing the mask.

It can also connect to external speakers via a Bluetooth connection.

Prakash has so far distributed 1,500 masks for free to medical workers in Alabama, Florida, California, Illinois and New York, and plans to ship another 7,000 in the coming weeks.

The longterm goal is to create 50,000 masks that hospitals can use as a last resort if they run out of more traditional PPE, and because the masks are easy to sterilize they could be freely shared between areas with different infection rates.

My desire would be that nobody would have to use anything like this, but, on the other hand, there are no good solutions out there,’ Prakash told The Washington Post.

He first got the idea in March when, after returning from a trip to France, he developed a cough and fever and had to be tested for COVID-19.

Prakash’s test came back negative but the experience left him amazed by how often the doctors and nurses who treated him had to throw out their PPEs.

The mask costs around $40 to produce and is made with a snorkeling mask, 3D-printed ventilation port, and medical grade air filter, which helps lower the risk of exposure to airborne virus particles

The masks also come equipped with small microphones and speakers to help make doctors and nurses easier to understand. They can be connected to external speakers through Bluetooth

Prankaj got the idea for the mask after being tested for COVID-19 and seeing how frequently doctors and nurses went through face masks while treating patients

He developed a prototype over the course of two weeks, which the Food and Drug Administration quickly approved for use because it was billed as a face shield and not a respirator.

Surgical respirators have airtight seals around the mouth which blocks all airborne particles but comes with more stringent FDA requirements, but since the Pneumask is not airtight it was simplest to treat it as a face shield.

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The team has created a public Google doc with all the documentation used to develop the device so medical workers in the field will be able to maintain and repair them.

Prankaj has so far sent 1,500 masks to hospitals in Alabama, California, New York, Florida, and Illinois, and hopes to ship another 7,000 in the coming weeks

Prankaj and his team have also created a public Google doc showing all of the documentation for the mask so medical workers can properly maintain and repair them in the field

Prakash has described his work as ‘frugal science,’ and previously developed a low-cost paper microscope that could be assembled for just $1.75 to help schools and researchers in poor communities.

Like many others, he hadn’t planned to be working on masks for medical workers, but felt the situation was too serious to ignore.

‘Nothing about this is normal,” he said. ‘There’s nothing normal about what’s happening around the world right now. I wish we had more time. I wish we were not here.’

DO FACE MASKS MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND WHAT SHOULD YOU WEAR IF YOU CAN’T GET ONE?

Americans are increasingly being spotted wearing face masks in public amid the coronavirus pandemic, as are people are around the globe.

Soon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may advise all Americans to cover their faces when they leave the house, the Washington Post reported. 

The agency is weighing that recommendation after initially telling Americans that they didn’t need to wear masks and that anything other than a high-grade N95 medical mask would do little to prevent infection any way.

FACE MASKS DO HELP PREVENT INFECTION – BUT THEY’RE NOT ALL CREATED EQUAL 

Research on how well various types of masks and face coverings varies but, recently, and in light of the pandemic of COVID-19, experts are increasingly leaning toward the notion that something is better than nothing.

A University of Oxford study concluded that surgical masks are just as effective at preventing respiratory infections as N95 masks for doctors, nurses and other health care workers.

It’s too early for their to be reliable data on how well they prevent infection with COVID-19, but the study found the thinner, cheaper masks do work in flu outbreaks.

The difference between surgical or face masks and N95 masks lies in the size of particles that can – and more importantly, can’t – get though the materials.

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N95 respirators are made of thick, tightly woven and molded material that fits tightly over the face and can stop 95 percent of all airborne particles, while surgical masks are thinner, fit more loosely, and more porous.

This makes surgical masks much more comfortable to breathe and work in, but less effective at stopping small particles from entering your mouth and nose.

Droplets of saliva and mucous from coughs and sneezes are very small, and viral particles themselves are particularly tiny – in fact, they’re about 20-times smaller than bacteria.

For this reason, a JAMA study published this month still contended that people without symptoms should not wear surgical masks, because there is not proof the gear will protect them from infection – although they may keep people who are coughing and sneezing from infecting others.

But the Oxford analysis of past studies – which has not yet been peer reviewed – found that surgical masks were worth wearing and didn’t provide statistically less protection than N95 for health care workers around flu patients.

However, any face mask is only as good as other health and hygiene practices. Experts universally agree that there’s simply no replacement for thorough, frequent hand-washing for preventing disease transmission.

Some think the masks may also help to ‘train’ people not to touch their faces, while others argue that the unfamiliar garment will just make people do it more, actually raising infection risks.

If the CDC does instruct Americans to wear masks, it could create a second issue: Hospitals already face shortages of masks and other PPE.

WHAT TO USE TO COVER YOUR FACE IF YOU DON’T HAVE A MASK 

So the agency may recommend regular citizens use alternatives like cloth masks or bandanas.

‘Homemade masks theoretically could offer some protection if the materials and fit were optimized, but this is uncertain,’ Dr Jeffrey Duchin, a Seattle health official told the Washington Post.

A 2013 study found that next to a surgical mask, a vacuum cleaner bag provided the best material for a homemade mask.

After a vacuum bag, kitchen towels were fairly protective, but uncomfortable. Masks made of T-shirts were very tolerable, but only worked a third as well as surgical mask. The Cambridge University researchers concluded that homemade masks should only be used ‘as a last resort.’

But as the pandemic has spread to more than 164,000 people worldwide, it might be time to consider last resort options.

Source: Dailymail

 

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