A Novel System for Removing Examinee's Exhaled Air Using an Open, Lightweight Non-Sealing Facemask - a...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Infectious Disease Control
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• Patients with respiratory infections pose a risk of pathogen transmission in healthcare settings.
• Existing methods for containing respiratory aerosols often require sealed masks or specialized isolation rooms.
• Effective removal of exhaled air can mitigate the spread of infectious agents like COVID-19 and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of the synchronized personal exhaled air removal system - prototype 1 (SPEAR-P1).
• To assess the system's ability to actively remove exhaled air from individuals wearing an open, non-sealing facemask.
• To determine the feasibility of reducing airborne pathogen transmission without patient sealing.

Main Methods:

• Fourteen healthy participants practiced breathing at various rates (30, 25, 20 breaths/min) through an open, non-sealing facemask connected to a deep vacuum generating unit (DVGU).
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) was used as a proxy to measure the efficacy of exhaled air removal.
• CO2 levels were measured from the outer surface of the facemask to quantify escaped exhaled air.

Main Results:

• The SPEAR-P1 system reduced CO2 escaping from the facemask by an average of 66% across all tested conditions (p<0.001).
• At a respiratory rate of 20 breaths per minute, the system achieved an average reduction of 85.55% in exhaled CO2 (p<0.001).
• The study demonstrated the feasibility of actively removing exhaled air using an open facemask design.

Conclusions:

• The synchronized personal exhaled air removal system - prototype 1 (SPEAR-P1) is a feasible technology for capturing exhaled air.
• This system offers a potential method for reducing patient-generated aerosols without requiring a sealed mask or isolation.
• Further development of SPEAR-P1 could significantly enhance infection control in diverse healthcare environments.