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1. VeriMask: Facilitating Decontamination of N95 Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Safeguarding the Future

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3478105  

   Long, Yan; Curtiss, Alexander; Rampazzi, Sara; Hester, Josiah; Fu, Kevin (September 2021, Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies)

   null (Ed.)

   The US CDC has recognized moist-heat as one of the most effective and accessible methods of decontaminating N95 masks for reuse in response to the persistent N95 mask shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is challenging to reliably deploy this technique in healthcare settings due to a lack of smart technologies capable of ensuring proper decontamination conditions of hundreds of masks simultaneously. To tackle these challenges, we developed an open-source wireless sensor platform---VeriMask1 ---that facilitates per-mask verification of the moist-heat decontamination process. VeriMask is capable of monitoring hundreds of masks simultaneously in commercially available heating systems and provides a novel throughput-maximization functionality to help operators optimize the decontamination settings. We evaluate VeriMask in laboratory and real-scenario clinical settings and find that it effectively detects decontamination failures and operator errors in multiple settings and increases the mask decontamination throughput. Our easy-to-use, low-power, low-cost, scalable platform integrates with existing hospital protocols and equipment, and can be broadly deployed in under-resourced facilities to protect front-line healthcare workers by lowering their risk of infection from reused N95 masks. We also memorialize the design challenges, guidelines, and lessons learned from developing and deploying VeriMask during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our hope is that by reflecting and reporting on this design experience, technologists and front-line health workers will be better prepared to collaborate for future pandemics, regarding mask decontamination, but also other forms of crisis tech. 

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2. Investigation of the Role of Face Shape on the Flow Dynamics and Effectiveness of Face Masks

   https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids7060209  

   Solano, Tomas; Shoele, Kourosh (June 2022, Fluids)

   Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have been used extensively in society. The effectiveness of face masks depends on their material, design, and fit. With much research being focused on quantifying the role of the material, the design and fit of masks have been an afterthought at most. Recent studies, on the other hand, have shown that the mask fit is a significant factor to consider when specifying the effectiveness of the face mask. Moreover, the fit is highly dependent on face topology. Differences in face types and anthropometrics lead to different face mask fit. Here, computational fluid dynamics simulations employing a novel model for porous membranes (i.e., masks) are used to study the leakage pattern of a cough through a face mask on different faces. The three faces studied (female, male, and child) are characteristic faces identified in a previous population study. The female face is observed to have the most leakage through the periphery of the mask, which results in the lowest fitted filtration efficiency of the three faces. The male and child faces had similar gap profiles, leakage and fitted filtration efficiencies. However, the flow of the three faces differs significantly. The effect of the porosity of the mask was also studied. While all faces showed the same general trend with changing porosity, the effect on the child’s face was more significant. 

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3. A novel face mask design with improved properties for COVID-19 prevention

   https://doi.org/10.1177/00405175221146295  

   Alby, Laine; Jayswal, Ajay; Morris, Sarah; McAtee, Will; Raghav, Vrishank; Adanur, Sabit (June 2023, Textile Research Journal)

   Novel cloth face masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have been developed and tested for particle (0.1 μm in size) filtration efficiency, bacterial filtration efficiency, breathability, leakage, heart rate, and blood oxygen level, and then compared with the available N95 masks and surgical masks. It was found that this novel mask had better filtration efficiency than that of surgical masks and was very close to that of N95 masks. The breathability was also improved and was in the range of the designated levels for barrier face coverings. The flow visualization technique was utilized to study the leakage of the mask and it was found to have significantly lower leakage as compared to surgical masks. Heart rate and blood oxygen level tests were performed by wearing the mask during 10-minute walking sessions and it was found that wearing the mask did not adversely affect heart rate or blood oxygen levels or add any other strain on the wearer. It is believed that this novel face mask would reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as provide an environmentally and economically conscious alternative to the N95 respirators for the public. The mask developed in this study can be washed, reused, and therefore worn for longer periods of time. 

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4. Metal leaching from antimicrobial cloth face masks intended to slow the spread of COVID-19

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98577-6  

   Pollard, Zoe A.; Karod, Madeline; Goldfarb, Jillian L. (September 2021, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Global health organizations recommend the use of cloth face coverings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Seemingly overnight, companies whose primary business is in no way related to healthcare or personal protective equipment—from mattresses manufacturers to big box stores—transitioned into the “mask business.” Many companies advertise antimicrobial masks containing silver, copper, or other antimicrobials. Often, the techniques used to load such antimicrobials onto mask fibers are undisclosed, and the potential for metal leaching from these masks is yet unknown. We exposed nine so-called “antimicrobial” face masks (and one 100% cotton control mask) to deionized water, laundry detergent, and artificial saliva to quantify the leachable silver and copper that may occur during mask washing and wearing. Leaching varied widely across manufacturer, metal, and leaching solution, but in some cases was as high as 100% of the metals contained in the as-received mask after 1 h of exposure. 

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5. One size fits all?: A simulation framework for face-mask fit on population-based faces

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252143  

   Solano, Tomas; Mittal, Rajat; Shoele, Kourosh (June 2021, PLOS ONE)

   Sinibaldi, Edoardo (Ed.)

   The use of face masks by the general population during viral outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, although at times controversial, has been effective in slowing down the spread of the virus. The extent to which face masks mitigate the transmission is highly dependent on how well the mask fits each individual. The fit of simple cloth masks on the face, as well as the resulting perimeter leakage and face mask efficacy, are expected to be highly dependent on the type of mask and facial topology. However, this effect has, to date, not been adequately examined and quantified. Here, we propose a framework to study the efficacy of different mask designs based on a quasi-static mechanical model of the deployment of face masks onto a wide range of faces. To illustrate the capabilities of the proposed framework, we explore a simple rectangular cloth mask on a large virtual population of subjects generated from a 3D morphable face model. The effect of weight, age, gender, and height on the mask fit is studied. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended homemade cloth mask design was used as a basis for comparison and was found not to be the most effective design for all subjects. We highlight the importance of designing masks accounting for the widely varying population of faces. Metrics based on aerodynamic principles were used to determine that thin, feminine, and young faces were shown to benefit from mask sizes smaller than that recommended by the CDC. Besides mask size, side-edge tuck-in, or pleating, of the masks as a design parameter was also studied and found to have the potential to cause a larger localized gap opening. 

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