The innovation relies on tiny disposable sensors fitted inside masks,
and potentially into clothing like lab coats. Meanwhile, a study links
higher grade masks with lower covid infection risks, and doctors call
for mass use of these “FFP3” high grade versions.To get more news about
medical mask manufacturer, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
Tiny,
disposable sensors to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection can be fitted into
face masks and integrated into clothing like lab coats, according to a
study yesterday in Nature Biotechnology. Researchers from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University built
off previous research that created paper-based diagnostics for viruses
like Ebola and Zika based on freeze-dried cellular machinery. Upon
activation with water, the first freeze-dried biological reaction cuts
open the virus membrane to expose RNA, the second amplifies the
spike-coding gene, and the third detects, cuts, and reports any spike
gene fragments via technology based on clustered regularly interspaced
short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), according to a Harvard news release.
(6/29)
Boston Herald: Face Masks That Can Detect Coronavirus: Harvard, MIT Researchers Create Wearable Tech
The face mask that you wear in the future could alert you of a
coronavirus diagnosis, thanks to researchers at Harvard University and
MIT. Researchers have created wearable biosensors that can detect the
presence of the virus in a person’s breath. These button-activated masks
give COVID results within 90 minutes in a simple-to-read format similar
to an at-home pregnancy test. The mask can diagnose COVID at accuracy
levels comparable to standard diagnostic tests, according to the
researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired
Engineering at Harvard University and MIT. (Sobey, 6/29)
The quality
of face masks healthcare workers wear makes a huge difference to their
risk of coronavirus infection, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust research has found. Wearing a high grade mask known as
an FFP3 can provide up to 100% protection. By contrast, there is a far
greater chance of staff wearing standard issue surgical masks catching
the virus. (Shukman, 6/29)
Doctors in the UAE have called for mass
production of a three-layer face mask that gives more protection
against the highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19. It is known as
the FFP3 (filtering facepiece) and provides four times the protection of
the commonly used two-layer N95 mask, medics say. (Nasir, 6/29)
Filtering
Face Piece 3 (FFP3) masks are respirator masks which commonly feature a
filter or valve to help wearers breathe through the slightly thicker,
tighter fabric and protect them from exposure to airborne particles.
(McMahon, 6/30)
University of North Florida COVID-19 researchers
have been awarded a $39,160 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. The grant is part of the Foundation’s push to help
researchers use the COVID-19 Research Database, a de-identified medical
database with 85 billion records from 250 million people. UNF’s team is
one of 15 groups to receive a grant. (Wood, 6/29)
In the fall of
2016, Ashanti Daniel, a nurse in Beverly Hills, California, went to an
infectious disease physician looking for answers about a weird illness
she couldn’t shake. After falling sick with a virus four months earlier,
she still felt too tired to stand up in the shower. The appointment
lasted five minutes, she said. The doctor didn’t do a physical exam or
check her vitals. His assessment: her illness was psychogenic, resulting
from something psychological. (Frangou, 6/30)
