MIT researchers created a reusable face mask that works like an N95 respirator

07/25/2020 Health, Technology


Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed iMASC, a new silicone mask that can be safely reused without fear of contamination. Researchers still need to analyze how effectively it traps viral particles, but it is a promising step to address the critical shortage of healthcare supplies.

IMASC offers a level of protection comparable to N95 respiratory masks, its creators say. This is in part because it uses an N95 filter without all of the extra N95 mask material that traps particles.

The masks are also based on the shape of a typical N95 mask, but are made from silicone rubber that can be sterilized after each use. Dual filters that cover the mouth can also be replaced after each use, the researchers said.

In a study on iMASC published in the British Medical Journal Open, researchers said a shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, in hospitals created a “critical need” for reusable safety equipment.

So they tried an N95-style mask. They 3D printed the material and tested its use among nurses and doctors, who rated the mask for its breathability, fit and filter replacement ease.

The researchers asked healthcare workers, all from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, how the mask compared to the tried and true N95 mask, and most of them said they had no preference or preferred the new mask, the researchers said in a statement. launching.

EPP shortage forces doctors to reuse contaminated equipment

This illustration shows how you can clean the reusable iMASC and remove its filter.

N95 masks are considered the most effective face covering and can trap up to 95% of particles. But they are not meant to be sterilized and reused.

But healthcare workers have had to reuse them anyway due to a shortage of masks and other PPE, like scrubs and gloves. Doctors have had to reuse potentially contaminated equipment, which could expose them or their patients to the coronavirus. It is the alternative to not wearing protection at all, even if reusing PPE poses any risk.
It’s a risk that researchers don’t want healthcare workers to take on. Peter Tsai, the man who invented the filter cloth for the N95 mask, came out of retirement to test sterilization methods. A group of Duke University researchers developed their own decontamination method in March using hydrogen peroxide.
Duke researchers are decontaminating N95 masks so that doctors can reuse them to treat patients with coronavirus

The Duke equipment biocontamination method takes hours to complete, requires equipment that many hospitals do not have and can only be used up to 20 times for the same mask. MIT researchers said they knew they needed to create a more versatile process or product.

“One of the key things we recognized from the beginning was that to help meet demand, we really needed to restrict ourselves to methods that could scale,” said Dr. Giovanni Traverso, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist. at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The researchers used several different sterilization methods in iMASC, including autoclaving (steam sterilizing), placing them in an oven, and dipping them in chlorine and isopropyl alcohol. The silicone material was not damaged after each test.

The MIT team is working on a new version of the mask, which they will test to see if it can efficiently filter out viral particles. Meanwhile, hospital workers, and people working in essential companies and schools planning to reopen, call on local, state and federal leaders to provide more PPE to protect their health.

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