Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico – Researchers from the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESO) have created a transparent face mask that allows you to see facial expressions, and is as efficient as the N95, the most commonly used face masks by medical personnel working with COVID-19 sufferers worldwide.
Miguel Huerta, professor and researcher at the institution, explained on his Twitter account that this mask is inclusive, since it allows lip reading for people with disabilities, and will be affordably priced at just 50 pesos.
In addition, Huerta stressed that there is no risk of improper use of this ergonomic mask that can be reused indefinitely.
Comparable to the transparent models that are being developed in other parts of the world, the ITESO mask will have anti-humidity filters and be made from an anti-fog plastic that is intended to prevent the passage of 97 percent of particles, a threshold higher than that offered by the N95 masks.
Although they share similarities with other models, what makes the ITESO prototype stand out is that the institute, which holds the patents, is planning to manage the allocation of the product license to ensure that its manufacturing is not monopolized, so that it can reach more people.
“[We are seeking] companies that can manufacture them with a target price of less than 50 pesos (…) It is a project whose main objective is social responsibility,” he said.
“The idea is that what ends up being generated from patents is not to be commercially exploited by a single company and create monopolies,” said Professor Miguel Huerta, coordinator of the project. “ITESO is going to be in charge of managing them so that it is the small companies that end up making the masks and in this way the economies are reactivated, far from using the patent to monopolize,” he added.
“We already have a prototype on which we did tests, now we are going to make minimal adjustments and, once the whole product is validated, it will go to the production line. We are hoping that production will begin in two or three months,” said Professor Huerta, who worked on the project together with a group of five ITESO students from the Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Bachelor of Design departments.
Sources: El Financiero • pulsoslp.com.mx