Mercer University School of Engineering faculty and students have been working to fabricate reusable 3D-printed face masks for medical professionals in locations where personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, such as N95 masks, have been depleted by the sharp increase in patient numbers due to COVID-19.
Dr. Joanna Thomas, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and Jacob Sokolove, senior mechanical engineering major, on Friday successfully put their mask prototype through a fit test with the help of Coliseum Medical Centers physicians and nurses to confirm its effectiveness.
Following the successful test, Mercer plans to move forward fabricating masks and distributing them to medical facilities and healthcare practitioners that have indicated a need for alternative PPE as a stopgap measure for employees until FDA-approved PPE is available.
Continue reading about the masks at news.mercer.edu.
