US researchers decontaminate N95 masks to make it reusable amid global shortage
US researchers at Duke University have come up with a method to clean N95 masks so that they can be safely re-worn amidst the coronavirus pandemic
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, N95 respirator masks that are needed to keep healthcare workers safe are in short supply. The short supply of these life-saving masks means that doctors and nurses are being forced to wear previously used respirators and thereby risking infection n in their attempt to care for coronavirus infected individuals. But recently researchers at Duke University have come up with a method to clean N95 masks so that they can be safely re-worn.
According to reports, the team at Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory has already managed to decontaminate hundreds of N95 masks without compromising their capability to protect against the coronavirus. This means that these decontaminated masks can now be re-worn several times. This discovery and method could provide significant help to hospitals that are running low on supplies and need to better protect their medical staff. The researchers from the University published their decontamination protocol so that other hospitals can also follow their lead and decontaminate their N95 masks.
How is it done?
The decontamination requires the use of vaporized hydrogen peroxide so that they can kill all microbial contaminants that lurk on the masks after they're worn. One cycle which takes 4 hours for the team at Duke University can clean 500 masks. The team are currently working towards expanding that capacity so that more masks can be decontaminated in one go.
According to reports, this method of decontamination has been used by labs for decades to de-contaminate equipment but was never intended for face masks. The masks handle the decontamination process well, which means that the process does not damage them or make them less effective. All the marks that are decontaminated by the team at Duke University are thoroughly checked for tears and to make sure that the masks have not lost their shape, because if a mask suddenly changes its shape it might not fit perfectly and can let virus particles through.
Published By : Shubham Bose
Published On: 28 March 2020 at 17:34 IST