Following input from doctors, health care personnel, staff, and nurses on needs, wants, form-fit-function evaluations, they have begun development and production on face shields, frames, masks and accessories. A newly-designed face shield frame design, produced by our cooperating facilities, does not require elastic straps, is more stiff and stable, has a low profile, can be sterilized, is mass produceable, and fits over glasses and masks.
Project leaders have also contributed to increased production of N95 personal protective masks. Our industrial partners are desigining and prototyping new varieties of reusable masks which can be
3D printed, easily decontaminated and reused, and can be produced in amounts up to 300,000 masks per week using novel tools and equipment.
Additionally, our production facilities have increased production of N95 mask material. Our facilities can produce 450 square feet of material per day, leading to a maximum of 1,000,000 masks' worth of filter material per week.
These productions are only the start of our work and we plan to adapt and repurpose our work to better serve those struck by COVID-19.
A pandemic has no borders and should not disproportionately penalize vulnerable segments of the population. Addressing COVID-19 requires us to act swiftly, bridging geographic, social, and economic divisions, while increasing focus on those at greatest risk. Members of this research project are part of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), which urges research on disparities in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality outcomes.