COVID Response
Mass Manufacturable DIY Masks
Patent Information:
Thomas Sharkey and Nadir Weibel. "Systems and methods for moldable and castable personal protective face masks." U.S. Patent Application No. 17/394,229.
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/bf/6b/c9/e4e7aeeebd8385/US20220039491A1.pdf
Triton Mask
The Triton Mask is a polypropylene mask laser cut from a sheet of Halyard material with an elastic strap and aluminum nose piece. These masks pass OSCHA quantitative fit testing and over 2,000 of these masks were made and sent to clinics in Tijuana.
Details can be found here
Prototyping 3D Printed Masks
These solutions ultimately failed our quantitative fit testing, and so they were not pursued further (one was adapted to become the Triton Mask). Many online designs were tested, and modified. Others were created from scratch.
Silicone Mask
The Silicone Half Mask is a mask made from silicone with adapters for various filters. This mask is cast using 2 part silicone poured into a 3D printable mold. The goal of this mask was to solve inherent problems with N95 masks - they do not seal to the face, cannot be reused, rely on an electrostatic layer to provide protection (which degrades very quickly), and rarely fit well. N95 masks do little to protect the wearer from biologicals; they contain and protect those around the wearer. This mask attempts to protect both.
This solution took a more human-centered design approach to determine what clinicians in the ER actually needed. Materials, cost, etc were chosen as a result of this process. The mask is easily sanitized, and can be reused indefinitely.
instructions for manufacture can be found here
write up can be found below or here
Quantitative Fit Testing
Done with the PortaCount Plus
This is opposed to more lenient fit tests that use an aerosol and the wearer's ability to smell the aerosol to determine fit.