新型医療用マスクのための評価手法の開発

抄録

From the end of 2019, COVID-19 prevails. Wearing a facial mask was effective in preventing COVID-19 infection. However, there are two problems with facial masks. First, there is gaps between the face and facial masks around the nose and cheeks, through which virus droplets can enter. Second, wearing a facial mask makes breathing difficult. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish an evaluation method for the virus droplet invasion ratio and suffocation magnitude. Furthermore, using the established evaluation method, we aim to develop a new facial mask for medical and general use that eliminates the gaps between face and facial mask and releases the suffocation. We measured the invasion ratio of three types of facial masks, when the facial mask is worn normally or when the facial mask is taped to the face to eliminate the gap. We proposed a two-variable index for the mask development that combines the two invasion ratios. When the two invasion ratios are equal, the filter performance of the facial mask might be at its maximum, and such a facial mask is defined as an optimized mask. Finally, we succeeded in developing a new optimized facial mask that solves the problem of commercial products.