face-masks-covid (foto qcostarica)

A team of researchers in China has designed a mask capable of detecting, after about 10 minutes, if a person is talking to another who is infected with one of the most common viruses, including the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, influenza A (H1N1 ) or bird flu (H5N1).

The new wearable bioelectronic facemasks integrated with ion-gated transistors, designed at Tongji University in Shanghai, China, can also notify users through their mobile devices of the presence of these pathogens in the air around them.

The researchers, who have published the conclusions of their work in the journal Matter, focused, after evidence that masks can reduce the risk of spreading and contracting the disease, on designing one that would be capable of detecting the presence of the virus in the air and to alert the user.

Respiratory pathogens that cause influenza (H1N1) or COVID-19 are spread through small droplets and aerosols released by infected people when they talk, cough, and sneeze, and those virus-containing molecules, especially small aerosols, can remain suspended in the air for a long time.

Read more: https://qcostarica.com/a-mask-capable-of-detecting-people-infected-with-coronavirus/