An incredible new high-tech face mask may help health professionals accurately monitor patients with respiratory concerns from the comfort of their own homes — a potential boon particularly for those in disadvantaged neighborhoods with high pollution levels.
As detailed by MIT Technology Review, a team from the California Institute of Technology developed a smart mask that uses a two-part cooling system to transform the wearer's breath into a more easily analyzed liquid known as "exhaled breath condensate."
Following a reading, the mask's biosensors use Bluetooth technology to send real-time health information to the users' phones (or other connected devices of choice), providing wearers with crucial information regarding whether they may need to visit a doctor.
Rajan Chakrabarty, a Washington University in St. Louis professor of Environmental and Chemical Engineering who wasn't involved in the study, explained to MIT Technology Review this real-time breakthrough solved the "biggest challenge" regarding sample collection.
"They don't have to come to the clinic to assess their inflammation level," added Caltech professor of medical engineering Wei Gao, one of the mask's creators. "This can be lifesaving."
According to the Boston University School of Public Health, one study found that pollution from the oil and gas industry in the United States was a factor in more than 400,000 asthma attacks in the country in 2016, along with 2,200 new diagnoses of childhood asthma.
While HEPA filters are among the solutions to assist with indoor air quality, respiratory issues like asthma — along with other lung conditions connected with the burning of dirty fuels, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — can be expensive and deadly.
A joint report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health, and Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action estimates that health costs associated with dirty fuel pollution (the primary driver of warming global temperatures) and other changes in climate exceed $820 billion annually in the U.S.
However, Cal researchers hope to commercialize the smart mask, making it widely available to people with conditions that need ongoing monitoring, per MIT Technology Review.
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The team didn't provide a potential price point or timeline for the technology to hit the market, but information in the MIT report indicates it may be at least several years. The team says it has to test the masks on a larger segment of the population first.
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