Engineers at MIT, in conjunction with researchers from Boston’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital, have designed a new, reusable facemask using material that protects the wearer from infection while allowing for easier breathing.
Called the iMASC, for Injection Molded Autoclavable, Scalable, Conformable, the device has two patches of removable N95 material that can be changed out regularly to ensure the effectiveness of the filter.
MIT engineers designed an affordable, reusable face mask that's as effective as an N95 — take a look. https://t.co/UEy1kgCwzS
— CNBC Make It (@CNBCMakeIt) July 22, 2020
Because of the design of the mask, the N95 material does not need to be replaced after every patient interaction, as is recommended for standard N95 respirators. N95 respirators also can only be sterilized through complicated processes 20 times before degrading.
The biggest innovation of the iMASC is that, once the N95 material is removed, the silicone shield can be disinfected in many ways–steam, disinfectant, or UV light–without degrading the effectiveness of the material, CNBC reports.