De Novo Powered Air-Purifying Respirator Design and Fabrication for Pandemic Response
Name
fbioe-09-690905.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.5 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
74e64051a299dcd0a37f721248548546
Author(s)
Kothakonda, Akshay
Atta, Lyla
Plana, Deborah
Ward, Ferrous
Davis, Chris
Cramer, Avilash
Moran, Robert
Freake, Jacob
Tian, Enze
Mazor, Ofer
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Citation
Kothakonda, Akshay, Atta, Lyla, Plana, Deborah, Ward, Ferrous, Davis, Chris et al. 2021. "De Novo Powered Air-Purifying Respirator Design and Fabrication for Pandemic Response." Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 9.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The rapid spread of COVID-19 and disruption of normal supply chains has resulted in severe shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly devices with few suppliers such as powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs). A scarcity of information describing design and performance criteria for PAPRs represents a substantial barrier to mitigating shortages. We sought to apply open-source product development (OSPD) to PAPRs to enable alternative sources of supply and further innovation. We describe the design, prototyping, validation, and user testing of locally manufactured, modular, PAPR components, including filter cartridges and blower units, developed by the Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team (PanFab). Two designs, one with a fully custom-made filter and blower unit housing, and the other with commercially available variants (the “Custom” and “Commercial” designs, respectively) were developed; the components in the Custom design are interchangeable with those in Commercial design, although the form factor differs. The engineering performance of the prototypes was measured and safety validated using National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-equivalent tests on apparatus available under pandemic conditions at university laboratories. Feedback was obtained from four individuals; two clinicians working in ambulatory clinical care and two research technical staff for whom PAPR use is standard occupational PPE; these individuals were asked to compare PanFab prototypes to commercial PAPRs from the perspective of usability and suggest areas for improvement. Respondents rated the PanFab Custom PAPR a 4 to 5 on a 5 Likert-scale 1) as compared to current PPE options, 2) for the sense of security with use in a clinical setting, and 3) for comfort compared to standard, commercially available PAPRs. The three other versions of the designs (with a Commercial blower unit, filter, or both) performed favorably, with survey responses consisting of scores ranging from 3 to 5. Engineering testing and clinical feedback demonstrate that the PanFab designs represent favorable alternatives to traditional PAPRs in terms of user comfort, mobility, and sense of security. A nonrestrictive license promotes innovation in respiratory protection for current and future medical emergencies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3389/FBIOE.2021.690905
