MaskArmor: Coronavirus Deactivating Mask

Problem: COVID-19 has emerged as a global pandemic, claiming over 400,000 lives (Worldometer estimate) until the first week of June 2020 and has affected billions of lives across the globe. The safety of the populations and recovery of the ailing economies are the challenges faced by all countries alike.

Proposed solution: We propose MaskAmor - a 3D-printed customizable mask with an exterior attachment that inactivates 99.9% of coronaviruses by concentrated doses of far-ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diode (LED) light. The absence of disposable filters renders an infinite life to the mask; all the mask’s 3D printed components withstand common decontamination processes; all the optoelectronic components are detachable; and the rechargeable battery lasts all day long.

Solution’s global impact: The infinite reusability of our mask will reduce global waste generation and further contamination due to mask disposals. It goes without saying that healthy citizens will result in a thriving economy.

According to the French Medical Association, there are around 61,000 General Medical Practitioners (GMP, general doctors in private practice) that treat more than 80% of COVID-19 patients. At the end of April 2020, 4000 GMP were infected with COVID-19, causing 21 deaths (leparisien). A widespread tool providing sufficient protection against the virus in medical practice is missing.

This is the specific problem within the Challenge that we target with a mask emitting far-UV light to deactivate the coronavirus; which being non-disposable is an environment-friendly solution compared to the current  medical face masks.

Moreover, according to the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, in addition to GMP, there are many other professions that provide essential services to the population and are thus directly exposed to the virus. For example: within France there are more than a million caregivers and nurses; about 1.2 million vendors and 174 000 cashiers, in shops and supermarkets; 161 000 domestic workers and 900 000 teachers in primary and secondary education (francetvinfo).

In the future, this product could achieve a lasting solution in health-care environments for the control of several airborne diseases alongwith the coronavirus.

We propose a mask - made via 3D printing - that inactivates airborne corona virus passing through it, thus preventing the virus from entering the body. The mask has an outer compartment with an integrated LED that emits far-UV-light (UVC ~275 nm). This type of low power light (4mJ / cm2) has scientifically proven to inactivate 99.9% of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza (Kowalski W, 2020). In addition, our mask prevents any adverse health effects, i.e., skin cancer, since the light is concentrated in a UV resistant compartment with a lens that prevents light from diverging and reaching the wearer. The compartment is perforated on the outer and inner sides to allow for continuous passage of air to and from the wearer. This compartment is attached to a 3D printed flexible mask that efficiently fits the wearer. The UV-LED is powered by a rechargeable battery that lasts all day.

In addition, the MaskArmor can be used unlimited number of times while preserving its performance qualities, contrary to respirators or surgical masks based on air-filters that need to be changed or replaced every few hours.

Our target population constitutes the general practitioners (GPs) in France: the first point of contact of most COVID patients. This mask will protect them from unexpected contact with the infected patients. Presently, there is a scarcity of highly effective masks to these doctors. Our mask is a charge and go option that allows the doctors to use it everyday.

To understand their needs, we have exchanged views with them. We are in the stage of applying for funding through local as well as international funding agencies like the Lyon startup, Entrepreneur first, Les aides from the French government and European grants – EIC accelerator. We will have the GMPs in Lyon, France as our direct collaborators and build the solution alongside them with continuous inputs for our iterations. They will also serve as our first testing units after laboratory confirmations of the efficiency of the device. 

We are applying to the Health Security and Pandemics Challenge, as our solution is critical towards responding to a global pandemic - COVID-19 and prevent its community-spread. Our COVID-19 deactivator mask offers the prevention of person-to-person transmission by emitting far-ultraviolet light that deactivates the virus safeguarding the wearer. It works directly by improving individual hygiene and securing the front-line medical practitioners who are at highest risks of the infection as well as contamination. Furthermore, the MaskArmor can be produced inexpensively with a 3D printer making it accessible and affordable to the healthcare community even remotely located anywhere in the World.

Our innovation lies in the fact that we do not use any physical disposable filters in our masks. This increases the lifetime of our mask from a few hours (present scenario of the masks used) to over months. 

We use the UV-LED based technology, where 99.9% of the coronavirus and other microorganisms entering the mask are inactivated by low concentrated doses of far-ultraviolet (UV) LED light. Further 3D printing allows us to design a safe mask and an enclosure for the UV-light so that no radiations reach the wearer, keeping them safe from any possible UV-hazards.

Far UV-LED based decontamination and deactivation of the coronavirus has been scientifically tested and proved. Currently, these are used as a mask decontamination procedure, but our work is the first to create a mask completely based on the UV-LED based deactivation.

We propose these long-lasting and efficient masks to the General Medical Practitioners (GMPs) that are the first source of contact with the suspected COVID patients. Given the shortage of the N95 and similar masks used against the coronavirus, our mask lasts longer, at the same time being more efficient. It also overcomes the challenges of recycling the N95 masks. 

So, providing the GMPs with this mask we reduce the transmission of the virus within the community. The funds obtained from the sale of the masks would be used to boost the manufacture and reach all the front-line workers. Eventually grow from the city of Lyon to other cities. Given 3D printing as our manufacturing option, the masks can be produced remotely anywhere in any part of the world. We would like to use our revenue gained from developed countries to provide 3D printers as well as our solutions to the consumers in underprivileged regions.

Currently we are in the concept phase, and hence have not served any customers. But once we have financial resources we aim to serve over 50000 GMPs within a year. 

Financial barriers. We are also looking for university partners to test our masks and declare them a 100% safe for the users. 

The cost of the optics and electronics determine the price of the mask, but are still low enough for a justified one-time investment (as our mask can be used technically for over years) in developed countries. If we produce over a 1000 pieces in bulk we can bring down the costs to under 10 USD/piece, in this way we could serve the developing countries as well.

We are in the process of applying for funds from the French Government as well as for European grants. Once we have the funding we will begin fabrication and testing of our masks and then the commercialization. At the same time we are trying to contact our alma maters: University of Montreal which has a research hospital - Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal to use the testing facilities for our mask. One of our team members has conducted her doctoral research in this center and has established ties to move forward. There is also an opportunity to approach the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, my master's alma mater. 

From the Solve community we expect the possibility of funding to develop our prototypes as well as mentoring from the SOLVE Challenge experts and alumni to take our idea from the concept phase towards a solution to the problem we mention.

So far we are three part-time staff working on this project. We plan to expand once we have the funds to do so.

The three of us bring in all the required skills to develop this product:

1. A mechanical engineer with a PhD in 3D printing and experience with the fabrication and testing of sensors and actuators, material science and instrumentation of devices. 

2. A Biomedical engineer with a PhD in the field of Optics for cancer diagnosis. She has profound experience with LEDs, lenses and optics that is crucial for this work. 

3. A Project manager with a mechanical engineering background to drive the supply chain and commercialization of our product.

N/A

Our key customers are the General Medical Practitioners in Lyon, France and we aim to provide them with efficient masks to protect them from potential COVID infection. They need them in order to avoid getting infected themselves and also to protect the other patients that come to them. 

We look forward towards Solver and then the Government funded grants for the infrastructure, raw materials and setting up the facility. Once we begin the fabrication, we believe that the sales of the masks will support the expenses.

We are applying to SOLVE with an intent to obtain the start-up funds to begin our fabrication, to cover our infrastructure and raw-material, and fabrication costs of around 15 K USD.

We also wish to reach out to a partner university lab to test our products for safety and efficiency. 

We would like to partner with biological testing labs that would help us characterize and approve our mask for safe use. This will involve teams working in epidemiology, especially possessing the facilities for coronavirus presence testing.

We apply to the Health Security Challenge, as our solution is critical towards responding to a global pandemic - COVID-19 and prevent its community-spread. Our COVID-19 deactivator mask offers the prevention of person-to-person transmission by emitting far-ultraviolet light that deactivates the virus safeguarding the wearer. It works directly by improving individual hygiene and securing the front-line medical practitioners who are at highest risks of infection as well as contamination. Furthermore, the MaskArmor can be produced inexpensively with a 3D printer making it accessible and affordable to the healthcare community even remotely located anywhere in the World.

The MaskArmor was designed to give the best protection against COVID-19 to the general practitioners in France; and 50% of them are women (30 000 people). However, our product should also serve people carrying out occupations that have the most risk of infection. According to the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), women have remained on the frontline against COVID-19. For example: they account for nine out of ten nurses and nursing assistants, representing more than one million people; the same percentage applies to cashiers (152 700). Besides, 637 000 women are teachers in primary and secondary education, representing 2/3 of the population. The Innovation for Women Prize would be used to pass from Concept to Prototype stage, also under the lead of a woman, Dr. Sampada Bodkhe. Thus it would serve to build and test the product.