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How can we make COVID masks more functional?

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Muhammad M Rahman
Muhammad M Rahman Feb 25, 2021
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The reality faced with the world is that COVID-19 and its variants will be part of our lives for many more months, possibly even years. The face mask has become an essential item and it appears that it will still be a requirement for a while longer. As the world recovers, many people will be returning to their normal activities but current masks are limiting. Facial expressions and smiling is so important for social interactions, the ability to clearly communicate is also difficult with a muffled voice.

Can we think of ways to make the mask less obstructive? There are some transparent fabrics or plastics that allow people to see your mouth but they would require safe ventilation to stop the mouth from sweating. What about a small microphone and speaker to help amplify your voice? How can we improve the basic but essential COVID mask?
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Creative contributions

Adding technology to masks

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Muhammad M Rahman
Muhammad M Rahman Mar 02, 2021
Looking ahead to the resumption of normal life will mean than people will again come into close contact with each other so what technologies could be incorporated into a mask?

If I receive a phone call on a packed train, I would like to talk without taking my mask off so perhaps a Bluetooth microphone in the mask could be useful here. If jogging with a mask on where you may use phone voice commands, this might be a useful function as well. What about having a straw/pipe from a water bottle leading directly to the mask so that you don’t have to remove the mask to drink? Anyone who has used the London underground in summer will know how important hydration is here. There could also be a spray pump so if you are uncomfortable, you can spray some water on your mouth keeping you fresh. I imagine that wearing masks would be difficult for those with eczema so perhaps a medicated spray would help.

If you’re on a busy train and you want to communicate without having to scream, you could have a small LCD/LED display on the front where you can type in a message and have that shown like ‘excuse me’ and ‘thank you’. This could even be an emoji. It’s also useful if you’re not a native speaker of the language, as a secondary use. This could even be used in emergencies say if you need to tell people about a medical condition you have if you pass out, the information could be shown at the touch of a button.
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Masks for people with respiratory problems

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jnikola
jnikola Oct 20, 2021
Recently I read that scientists are examining the benefit of salt in slowing the spread of COVID-19. To support the research, in 2016, a "pilot study found that a compressed sodium chloride surface reduced contamination with the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria by 94 % within the first 60 seconds compared with 71 to 73 percent for copper surfaces.
While the effect of salt on the spread of COVID-19 could be big, another company from Croatia designed COVID-19 masks with Adriatic sea salt . Living next to the sea and breathing the "salty" air is generally considered healthy. These guys, therefore, sell their products by selling you cleaner and healthier air.
What if we included all kinds of particles and oils inside the mask and sold it to people with acute or chronic respiratory problems? Chronic nonallergic rhinitis is primarily treated with saline nasal sprays and a lot of liquids. If you also consider natural products, teas, oils, and other products containing Urtica dioica, Perilla frutescens, Zingiber officinale (Ginger), Achillea millefolium and others could be used .
The idea would be to develop COVID-19 face masks with salt particles and/or natural oils that could help you breathe easier, especially if you have respiratory problems.

[1]https://hospitalnews.com/salt-coated-masks-and-air-filters-to-potentially-slow-the-spread-of-covid-19/

[2]https://saltandchecker.hr/en/shop-en/

[3]https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nonallergic-rhinitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351235

[4]https://www.sinusandallergywellnesscenter.com/blog/allergic-rhinitis-6-herbal-remedies-to-try-sinus-allergy-wellness-clinic

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Shubhankar Kulkarni
Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago
Sounds good! The air could pass through the oils and other natural products you mentioned. The mask could have a reservoir of natural ingredients. The air you breathe goes through the reservoir and then enters the breathing compartment of the mask. Something similar to this.
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Transparent mask

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Shubhankar Kulkarni
Shubhankar Kulkarni Feb 26, 2021
Since you mentioned, here is an example of a transparent mask.

Upsides:
  1. Face clearly visible. The filter is below the chin
  2. The surface is anti-microbial
  3. Can be used for up to 6 months.
Downsides:
  1. The stiff plastic creates gaps between your skin and the mask, according to some reviews.
  2. Some users mention that they become foggy.

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Shubhankar Kulkarni
Shubhankar Kulkarni4 years ago
This came up: https://vue-shield.com/?utm_campaign=lookalike&utm_medium=brandawareness&utm_source=adroll

It is a transparent face shield that does not become foggy since there is space between the shield and your face. I am not sure how capable it is to stop the transmission of respiratory droplets and, thereby, the infection. On the plus side, you can wear it during exercise and while talking to others. You have to wear it like you wear your glasses so no additional adjustment is needed.
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Muhammad M Rahman
Muhammad M Rahman4 years ago
Precisely, when they become foggy it’s difficult to see facial expressions and the sweatiness is unpleasant. With the filter below the chin you would expect this to happen, the ventilation needs to be closer to the mouth and nose yet not be covering the mouth.
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Sheer fabrics masks

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Martina Pesce
Martina Pesce Mar 02, 2021
Very good point, non-verbal communication really needs to come back as soon as possible! At this link I found a nice list of sheer (aka see-through) fabrics. It's good to use fashion technologies for multiple aims.
There are some fabrics that are all-synthetic and could indeed create ventilation and sweating problems, but there are also some at least partially natural alternatives that would easily solve the problem.
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Shubhankar Kulkarni
Shubhankar Kulkarni4 years ago
Hi Martina! Is the fabric sparsely woven? I am wondering how it can be see-through and breathable.
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The Best way to make Masks more Functional is to not even Wear them.

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Maxim Teleguz
Maxim Teleguz Mar 03, 2021
lets not be like Joe, but instead focus on seeing that smile that he paid for (plastic surgery).

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Can we optimize masks so as to use even while exercising/playing?

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Subash Chapagain
Subash Chapagain Mar 03, 2021
So far, due to the pandemic, gyms and public parks and playgrounds are still closed by and large. Since doctors and WHO have recommended not to use masks while working out and playing, I think one area where we could do better is to design masks that can be used even while doing physical activities. If this could be made possible, then it would pave a way for reopening gyms and parks for running/jogging and other physical activities. The reason that wearing masks is not recommended is that it could hinder our ability to breathe comfortably, restricting the supply of sufficient oxygen into the lungs. Can we address this with any engineering interventions? What could be the design considerations for such masks? One possible feature I can imagine is designing masks with valves that could be regulated, coupled with some controller in phones. Another concern about wearing masks during workout sessions is that sweat can facilitate microbial contamination. What design features could tackle this problem? Maybe we could use fabric that doesn't allow microbial attachment?

[1]https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters

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Recycle masks by turning them into plants

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jnikola
jnikola Apr 09, 2021
A company from Utrecht, Netherlands, called Marie Bee Bloom, designed and manufactured a face mask that can be recycled by burying into the soil and growing flowers. How?

The mask is made of layers of rice paper (rice, water, and natural starches).
In the rice paper, there are also flower seeds that can sprout when buried into the soil and watered.
The ear loops are made of spun wool.
The potato starch was used as glue for certain mask parts.
The price is 3.5 USD.

Although it's a crafty piece of art, it is not recommended as a safer alternative to N95 masks.
If we used better recyclable materials that could potentially trap the CO2 or Nitrogen from the exhaled air, and plant some seeds into it, we could develop a recyclable mask that could not only grow a tree when planted, but also serve as a simple fertilizer. The fertilization could be better by the time the mask is used.

Some data says that we throw 3 000 000 masks every minute, what makes more than 129 000 000 000 masks a month . Imagine that we grow 129 000 000 000 trees every month, instead!

[1]https://www.fastcompany.com/90613629/plant-this-disposable-face-mask-when-youre-done-and-itll-sprout-flowers

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Combining them with other methods of stopping the spread of COVID-19 - chewing gum?"

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jnikola
jnikola Dec 23, 2021
Face masks were proven to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 by many sources . Speaking in numbers, wearing a face mask overall resulted in a 53% of reduction in COVID-19 incidence (p<0.05), compared to the handwashing and social distancing percentages being 53 % (non-significant) and 25 %, respectively. If combined, these percentages of COVID-19 incidence could increase up to 75 % or more!
Recently, scientists found another method of combatting the spread of COVID-19 - by chewing gum !
The chewing gum was of conventional physical characteristics, shape, and flavor, with the addition of virus-trapping CTB-ACE2 proteins. The mentioned proteins are the primary site of viral replication in the human oral cavity. Scientists showed that ACE2 activity of the patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 was significantly lower than in healthy ones, probably because the viruses "occupied" them.
In vitro experiments showed that CTB-ACE2 gum efficiently (>95%) inhibited entry of lentivirus spike or VSV-spike pseudovirus into Vero/CHO cells. In addition, incubation of CTB-ACE2 microparticles reduced SARS-CoV-2 virus count in COVID-19 swab/saliva samples by >95%. That means the particles could both trap and block the virus cellular entry and potentially reduce the COVID-19 incidence.
It would be interesting to calculate how effective would this measure be compared to the face masks, hand washing and social distancing. All things considered, if proven effective, virus-trapping chewing gum could help bringing back smiles on our faces!

[1]https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302#:~:text=personal%20protective%20and%20social%20measures%2C%20including%20handwashing%2C%20mask%20wearing%2C%20and%20physical%20distancing%20are%20associated%20with%20reductions%20in%20the%20incidence%20covid%2D19

[2]https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449

[3]https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118

[4]https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(21)00579-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1525001621005797%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

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Heating the mask

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jnikola
jnikola Dec 14, 2022
Due to the mechanisms described in this contribution, I propose heating the masks to make them more efficient.
How could it work?
  • Masks made of wool or nylon - because these two materials retain heat better than cotton and silk
  • Masks made of special materials with superior thermal insulation like this one
  • Preheated metal alloys for masks - metal alloy used to shape the mask and assure a perfect fit could be heated to help keep the nose warm
  • Heating inserts for the mask
  • Battery-heated masks similar to this one

[1]https://csef.usc.edu/History/2010/Projects/J1517.pdf

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