The One Mask

Reuseable, comfortable, smart face mask. Why wait? It was in the Fall when the second wave hit during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. It is summer now, not long after the first-wave of COVID-19 devastated the globe, people in Central Park New York are roaming mask-free. Reason? Majority said the problem with wearing a mask is: hard to breath, need to have it on very long, and not 'cool'. What if we redesign the currently available electrostatic "Darth Vader" masks so that its real high quality protection appeals to everyone? What if it not only had a high-grade filter but also had a retractable nose-pad, various colors/sizes/shapes, Bluetooth tech, tracking & tracing emerging trends, data sensor, biomarker/health tech add-on. Imagine, these 2020 face masks would be the offspring of the 1990s cell phone. Everyone would have one and no one would leave home without one: The One Mask.

Look at photographs or video of people walking in Czech Republic or Hong Kong, two countries where COVID-19 epidemic appears to be contained, and almost everyone is wearing a face mask. In the US, by contrast, only a minority of people wear masks when they are out in public. This could be partly due to the different cultural norms between the West and Asian countries. To change ones' cultural norm is difficult and may require a lot of time. We can learn from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic that the highly fatal second wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic and it didn’t allow much time to prepare killing more than double the amount of people than in the first and third wave. With its high transmissibility (R factor) we cannot solely be reactive but need long-term solution for a face mask that would prevent and mitigate the current and any future COVID-19 outbreaks. In addition to implementing a mandate for universal face mask use outdoors, we'll benefit more with universal face mask design (The One Mask). The former is like an order imposed to us whereas the latter is like altering our behavior. 

Eastrometric respirators such as the half facepiece tight-fitting face masks are usually made of synthetic or natural rubber material. They can be reused, cleaned, disinfected, stored, and long-lasting. Averaging $60USD, they are available as alternatives to disposable half mask filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) such as N95 FFRs, for augmenting the total supply of respirators available for use by HCP. While they are not cleared by FDA for fluid resistance, based on their NIOSH approval, they can provide at least equivalent protection to N95 FFRs. Their pancake-style filters are replaceable. They were designed to be used for industrial type of work but now are filling a niche for COVID-19 protection.

Our solution is a prototype that's an improvement of these "Darth Vader" masks:
- Fluid resistant surface material
- visually trendy/fashionable/scalable healthcare tech
- comfortable due to smaller size & shape with additional filter protection with N95 or PM2.5 equivalent material for moist parts
- a hinge nose/mouth piece to enable wearer to drink/eat and have a pleasant fragrance
- transparent for facial recognition
- electronic chip to enable Bluetooth, biomarkers/data sensor, contact tracing, vital monitoring, AI/ML
- microphone device allowing better communication & translation App
- Google-style lens and many eye-wear upgrade options

The target population is all tech-savvy customers and public health authorities like CDC & WHO (for initial endorsement). One challenge we could face would be to obtain FDA approval for the prototype and the other would be to convince tech-savvy customers who would make the most use of all the features and provide valuable feedback to us for further improvement. This will give us a deeper market research background to understand their needs. To cover the cost of the medical device, we will also conduct qualitative & quantitative research at the local level to show the benefit of widespread use of these devices so a case for subsidizing it can be presented. We will next wish to partner with few leaders in the medical device industry to make the product even more valuable. Having this mask become available before the Fall would be our goal if everyone is willing to work together to beat the pandemic however challenging it may be. Studies are already showing the potential benefit of widespread face mask use in preventing a second wave of COVID-19.

The last time the world experienced a pandemic was almost 100 years ago. We have come a long way and have learned that if we want a long-term solution we must focus on preventative and mitigation measures. The way most respiratory infections spread is through aerosol and it's been widely agreed upon that face masks provide protection. As a community what we do right now will determine the trajectory of this pandemic. We must consider that cultural norms have some influence on widespread adoption of face masks and thus they must evolve to be anti-aerosol/reusable, comfortable, and smart.

There are currently no high-quality face masks that have a smart device feature that enables Bluetooth, AI/ML, data sensor, and is made of anti-aerosol material which could be widely implemented to prevent & contain the rapid spread of respiratory diseases.

This solution relies on technology that powers most smart devices and is incorporated into a scalable high-quality anti-aerosol face mask. A hardware chip enables Bluetooth technology, data sensors, vital monitoring (e.g., can measure respiration rate, heart rate, oxygenation, etc), microphone (i.e., with software that can adjust volume and offer translation), and contact tracing. There is option to add features for eye protection, prescription lenses, and an hinge on the nose/mouth piece allowing the person wearing it to eat/drink. This solution can operate thru green technology (e.g., solar power).

The immediate goal is to implement widespread adoption of a high quality face mask that people will come to value as their cell phone. It would keep being developed and improved upon based on market feedback and our internal research & development.

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Healthcare - 2

Finance/Business - 3

MedTech Research - 2

Engineering - 2

Data Science - 1

We just took part in a MIT virtual hackathon where our pitched idea brought us together as a team. We are a new startup excited to be a part of this peer network that has links to organizations that are on similar path as ours working towards a better world for our future. What can be more rewarding than being able to exchange learning, advice, and support? This platform is a great way for us to network with others, learn from our peers, hopefully contribute some value to their project(s), and grow as a new startup. We envision a world where we can look back at our proposed solution and be proud of the lives it helped improve or sparked an innovative solution by others. Most importantly, we are certain that Solve’s connection would help us meet our scaling goals and this value will encourage us to help other new startups.

Our solution is not yet using these technologies but we plan to add AI/ML to our innovation after conducting sufficient qualitative and quantitative research and market feedback. It would be a massive addon to our prototype and we do have desire to implement these technologies either at our clinical trial phase or earlier.

We are a new startup looking to disrupt the face mask industry. Many studies have said that widespread face mask use could help prevent a second wave of COVID-19. We are seeing that people are influenced to wear mask based on cultural norms. In US, some people are not wearing face mask because they perceive it has a stigma attached to it (e.g., one is 'weak') or it is not 'cool' whereas in Asian countries like Hong Kong there is wide acceptance of face mask use. Not surprisingly, studies have demonstrated a linear correlation to the use of face mask and the number of COVID-19 cases. We propose a solution. Imagine a face mask that people hold as valuable as their cell phone. What do we need to do? Make the face mask have technology. In doing so we can scale this medical device and introduce a high quality FDA approved face mask that is anti-aerosol/reusable, comfortable, and nothing short of a smart device.