Swiss researchers develop transparent face masks

A Swiss team has spent the past two years developing transparent and breathing material that is expected to replace traditional face masks.

With the spread of coronavirus, face masks have become a staple food in everyday life when countries are trying to reopen and maintain a sense of normalcy. Some have adopted masks and tried to integrate them into everyday life, such as with the launch of “trikini” for summer which includes special face masks with swimwear.

However, most people find it difficult to adjust to the new normal they find, including constantly covering their faces. A new type of face mask might make that change a little easier.

Klaus Schönenberger helped the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and saw the benefits and limitations posed by medical face masks. The most concerning is the lack of facial interaction, which can be very important by helping patients with hearing loss.

“It was really touching to see that the nurses – who were covered from head to toe with protective equipment – pinned a photo of themselves on their chests so patients could see their faces,” he said. statement on the project website.

Schönenberger began developing HelloMask with the EssentialTech Center and Empa, the federal federal material science center. Thierry Pelet, previously a project manager at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne School of Life Sciences, approached Schönenberger to help develop the mask.

The aim is to make a mask that is transparent but still filtered at the medical grade level. Unlike today, a similar product that aims to provide transparent but large and complex face protection, HelloMask will be similar in design and function to today’s green, blue and white medical masks.

“Looking online, you can find a prototype of a partially transparent mask, but that is just an ordinary mask with some cloth replaced with clear plastic,” Pelet said in a written statement. The mask developed by the group must function like a medical mask, with pores in a material small enough to allow air to enter while blocking viruses and bacteria.

HelloMask was initially funded by several dozen non-profit organizations, then received grants for funding. The mask will initially be sold to hospitals and health care professionals, but the plan is to quickly introduce masks to the mass market, with the aim of starting production as early as 2021.