“I’m a Product Design student in New Zealand and I’m currently looking into the issue of Respiratory Safety for exercising outdoors in Urban areas. To find a solution I need to find out as much as possible from those of you who feel affected/concerned by the issue. I will be designing a system or product that hopefully appeals to users and improves respiratory safety and performance but I need to know your thoughts/wants/needs/don’t wants in a product!! If you’ve got a bit of time it would be great if you could answer the following survey to help my research along! ”
Erika Hansen testing a respirator running
Erika Hansen, a Industrial design student from New Zealand posted a survey regarding respiratory protection in outdoor sports to many cycling forums like Melbourne Cyclist , Bike Radar, Vorb and others. Her questionnaire must have traveled around the world multiple loops and helped her uncovered many useful insights.
I was curious and asked Erika if she would mind sharing her research. Erika is very kind and forwarded her research synopsis to share with all.
Erika Hansen-research synopsis
The measured mean tropospheric NO2 for 2008 as measured with the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY. Hotspots on these world map are the industrialised area in Europe, China, the USA and South-Africa. A lot of other mega-cities can also be found as a localised spot with enhanced NO2 concentrations.
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by info on April 20, 2010
Totobobo mask is the most comfortable and advanced respirator in the non-certified respirator market. In many respects the patented design is revolutionary. The original design cater to the needs of common users, who do not have access to professional fit-test facility and yet need the assurance of a well fitted respirator.
Preparing Totobobo masks for test
A different approach
To provide assurance of good fit, we made the reusable mask with transparent plastic, so that users can see through it and check the face-seal. We make the mask customizable, so that users can trim it to fit their face. The thin and flexible plastic is highly adaptive and easily follows the contour of the face, require very little force to hold on to the face. The strap is exceptionally flexible and comfortable to use. There is silver ion anti-virus additive in the mask to make reuse more safe. all these sounds great on paper, but how does it perform in real life?
Testing Totobobo mask
Testing the masks
To validate the protection of Totobobo, we sent the masks to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong to test the effectiveness by professional fit-test facilities.
A randomized controlled cross over study was carreid out to compare the efficacy of Totobobo with fitted tested N95 masks (1860 or 1860s or 1862, 3M). The test was conducted in 22 healthy volunteers. The key findings are:
- The pass rate (filtration factor >100) of Totobobo mask was over 73%, while majority of (N95) masks fitting less than 40% of the test population
- The average filtration factor of fitted tested N95 masks is higher (193) then Totobobo mask (135).
- In terms of comfort, 65% subjects preferred Totobobo mask over their fitted tested N95 masks
Quote from the report:
“..Using the Totobobo mask in the panel of masks to be tested may reduce the number of masks that need to be tested before an adequate fit is found. This potential advantage, however, will need to be balanced against the time taken to trim the Totobobo mask to size. Furthermore, in situations where there is insufficient time to carry out fit testing use of the Totobobo mask may be a useful stopgap measure. In addition to this, the fact that the Totobobo mask is designed to be reusable may provide significant advantage. This would minimize the problems associated with the need to stockpile disposable masks and the difficulty of obtaining supplies in an epidemic. However, prior to concluding the mask is re-usable it is necessary to test the effect of sterilization processes on the mask. It is conceivable that such processes may make the mask less pliable and the fit less good. Moreover it is important to ensure that the process of changing the HEPA filters does not contaminate the user with infectious particles.
In terms of comfort 65% of subjects preferred the Totobobo mask over the N95 mask (1860, 1860s 3M). While the confidence interval straddles 50% this may be due to our small sample size. Comfort is an important issue when masks need to be worn for long periods of time. Greater comfort may translate into greater compliance with proper use of the mask and hence greater protection in clinical use. The experience of our ICU during SARS suggests that compliance is an important factor in determining the risk of occupational infection.”
The bottom line
If your have access to fit-test facility and have time to conduct fit test, the best option is fit-tested N95 mask. Otherwise, Totobobo mask provides reasonable good protection even if you don’t have access to fit-test facility or there is no time for fit test.
fit-test result from one of the subject
Source:
A randomized controlled pilot study to compare filtration factor of a novel non fit tested HEPA filtering facemask with a fit-tested N95 mask.
by Dr Sylvia S.W. Au, Dr Charles D. Gomersall, Patricia Leung and Dr Peggy T.Y. Li.
Dept of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong.
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a teenage girl wearing Totobobo mask
The current H1N1 flu triggered a sudden increase in sales of face masks and Totobobo, the first customizable face mask, is now hitting 25 countries across the world. This is a new milestone for the company, Dream Lab One, the producer of the Totobobo mask.
Travelers, cyclists, wood-turners and artists alike have found this reusable mask highly effective in blocking out polluted air and various irritants. Sales of this reusable mask has increased significantly and it has received rave reviews from users around the world.
“This mask may have saved my life. First, the mask is made out of a rubbery material, so it sticks naturally to your skin. After I found the perfect position on my face for my mask, I no longer have any problems with breathing…at all…period. My nose has cleared up, my eyes are no longer irritated, I don’t cough or sneeze at all anymore. It’s comfortable and it doesn’t fog my glasses! I hardly know I’m wearing it!” said Paula Ford, a satisfied Totobobo user and a pastel artist residing in Tennessee, United States.
Individuals who rely a lot on respiratory masks tend to live in environments that contain either polluted air or airborne disease pathogens. An effective mask helps to filter out polluted air and airborne virus. There are two conditions that determine whether a respiratory mask is effective. First, it needs to seal the wearer’s nose and mouth snugly. Second, the filter material must be able to filter out the smallest of particles.
“Money can buy high quality filters, but a good seal has been a hit-or-miss affair,” said Francis Chu, the designer of the revolutionary mask. His design provides a simple and intuitive solution call VSC (Visual-Seal-Check) for the user to check the face-seal.
Easy Visual-Seal-Check (VSC):
To ensure good respiratory seal, normal N95 mask users can only rely on their ability to feel the air-leak around their face. Such method is not reliable and sometimes it gives a fault sense of security. Francis believes his transparent mask allows users to check the seal intuitively and to ensure minimal seepage of polluted air.
To verify this, he sent the mask to a hospital and compared the Visual-Seal-Check (VSC) with the gold standard respirator fit-test, a high-end quantitative system called PortaCount from TSI Incorporated. The result showed strong correlation (90%) between the prediction of the Visual-Seal-Check (VSC) method and the result of the gold standard fit-test proving his intuitive method effective.
“The Visual-Seal-Check, or VSC, is much more reliable than the seal check found in other N95 masks. This study shows that face-seal can be determined simply by checking the seal through the transparent mask,” says Francis.
5 years old boy wearing Totobobo mask
Over half of the recent orders are coming from parents traveling with children. They appreciate the possibility to customize the mask to fit their young children. With the VSC they are more reassured that their children are getting the optimal protection.
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News release
(Singapore, 4 May 2009) – As swine flu (H1N1) continues to spread, young children are at greater risk because of the lack of child-friendly respiratory masks. The customisable child-friendly Totobobo mask offers parents a reassuring solution and is seeing strong demand from around the world.
Totobobo mask fit children with small face size
The patented Totobobo mask was created by product designer Francis Chu to meet the need for children respiratory protection. Made from ‘Totosoft’, a custom-blend soft plastic formulated using FDA approved sources, the mask is also equipped with two powerful German filters. The mask can be trimmed to fit children as young as five-years-old. Parents can see through the transparent mask and double check if it fits their child snuggly and leaving no gaps.
For a mask to be effective, it has to fit the face snuggly, so that airborne viruses cannot seep through any gaps. Children wearing adult-sized respiratory masks, whether NIOSH-certified or not would be exposed to contaminated air due to the ill fit.
normal N95 mask does not fit children
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA tests and certifies respiratory devices on the market such as the current standard N95 masks. This test is however only conducted on adults. The certification determines the filtration efficiency and does not guarantee how well the masks fit. All NIOSH-certified respiratory masks like the current N95 are fixed sizes and do not come in smaller sizes for children.
In 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) first broke out, Francis himself a parent of two, got first-hand experience of the anxiety of a parent concerned about his children’s safety. His children were only six and eight-years-old at the time and he could not find a mask that would fit their small faces.
“I felt hopeless knowing that my children were in imminent danger if they go into crowded public space like schools or playgrounds and that I could not do anything about it.”
“The sense of threat prompt me into looking for a design solution that will fit all face shapes including children.” explains Francis.
The customisable Totobobo respiratory mask that Francis eventually created, after experimenting with hundreds of prototypes, fits both adult and child. Its soft and light material (only 20grams) makes it less irritable for children who might find it uncomfortable wearing a normal mask.
“I believe that I was thinking from a parent’s perspective during the design process and that pushed me harder to make the mask as practical as possible. I am just happy knowing that with the child-friendly Totobobo mask, parents now have a practical way to better assured of their children’s safety,” adds Francis.
Related:
Time for a better mask to protect children
Parent testimonial
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