This mask receives a high-tech upgrade.
The models currently being tested do more than provide a physical barrier between the carrier and potential viruses. Scientists, chemists, biologists and engineers have created working prototypes of masks that include diagnostics, sensors and even the ability to kill viruses.
In the near future, if you are on a plane and the person next to you sneezes, you could wear a mask that sterilizes the air before you breathe it.
Some of these new masks are designed for health care workers, while others will be marketed to both health care workers and consumers. Masks and respirators marketed as medical devices or as worker protection must be approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration or the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety or Niosh. (Respirators are masks that provide a tight seal on the face, such as the N95, and must be adequate to provide ideal protection.)
“I’m delighted with the attention paid to the masks,” says Christopher Sulmonte, project manager for the biocontainment unit at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The new ideas “have a certain scientific rigor,” he says. “Once we see how they work, we’ll start to see which tools make the most sense.”