Air seal performance of personalized and statistically shaped 3D-printed face masks compared with market-available surgical and FFP2 masks

Abstract: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed alarming shortages of personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare professionals and the general public. Therefore, a 3D-printable mask frame was developed, and its air seal performance was evaluated and compared. Personalized masks (PM) based on individual face scans (n = 8) and a statistically shaped mask (SSM) based on a standardized facial soft tissue shape computed from 190 face scans were designed. Subsequently, the masks were additively manufactured, and in a second step, the PM and SSM were compared to surgical masks (SM) and FFP2 masks (FFP2) in terms of air seal performance. 3D-printed face models allowed for air leakage evaluation by measuring the pressure inside the mask in sealed and unsealed conditions during a breathing simulation. The PM demonstrated the lowest leak flow (p < 0.01) of inspired or expired unfiltered air of approximately 10.4 ± 16.4%, whereas the SM showed the highest (p < 0.01) leakage with 84.9 ± 7.7%. The FFP2 and SSM had similar values of 34.9 ± 18.5% leakage (p > 0.68). The developed framework allows for the time- and resource-efficient, on-demand, and in-house production of masks. For the best seal performance, an individually personalized mask design might be recommended

Angaben zum Objekt

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anmerkungen: Scientific reports. - 11 (2021) , 19347, ISSN: 2045-2322

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wo): Freiburg
• (wer): Universität
• (wann): 2021
• Urheber: Nold, Julian ; Metzger, Marc ; Schwarz, Steffen Jochen ; Wesemann, Christian ; Wemken, Gregor ; Pieralli, Stefano ; Kernen, Florian ; Weingart, Julia Vera ; Schirmeister, Carl Gunther ; Schumann, Stefan ; Schlager, Stefan ; Spies, Benedikt Christopher

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98963-0
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2223457
• Rechteinformation: Kein Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 25.03.2025, 13:41 MEZ