VeriMask: Facilitating Decontamination of N95 Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Safeguarding the Future
VeriMask: Facilitating Decontamination of N95 Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Safeguarding the Future
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VeriMask：在 COVID-19 大流行中促进 N95 口罩的净化：挑战、经验教训和保障未来
DOI：
10.1145/3478105
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发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Fu, Kevin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Long, Yan;Curtiss, Alexander;Rampazzi, Sara;Hester, Josiah;Fu, Kevin
针对新冠肺炎疫情导致的N95口罩持续短缺的问题，美国疾控中心已确认湿热净化N95口罩是最有效、最方便的方法之一，可重复使用。然而，由于缺乏能够同时确保数百个口罩的适当去污条件的智能技术，在医疗保健环境中可靠地部署这项技术是具有挑战性的。为了应对这些挑战，我们开发了一个开源无线传感器平台-VeriMask1-它促进了湿热去污过程的逐个掩模验证。VeriMASK能够同时监控商业供暖系统中的数百个口罩，并提供新的吞吐量最大化功能，以帮助操作员优化去污设置。我们在实验室和真实场景的临床环境中对VeriMASK进行了评估，发现它在多个设置中有效地检测到去污失败和操作员错误，并提高了面罩去污吞吐量。我们的平台易于使用、低功耗、低成本、可扩展，可与现有医院协议和设备集成，并可广泛部署在资源不足的设施中，通过降低一线医护人员因重复使用N95口罩而感染的风险来保护他们。我们还纪念在新冠肺炎大流行期间开发和部署VeriMASK的设计挑战、指导方针和经验教训。我们希望通过反思和报告这一设计经验，技术人员和一线卫生工作者将更好地为未来的大流行做好准备，不仅是在口罩去污方面，而且还在其他形式的危机技术方面。
The US CDC has recognized moist-heat as one of the most effective and accessible methods of decontaminating N95 masks for reuse in response to the persistent N95 mask shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is challenging to reliably deploy this technique in healthcare settings due to a lack of smart technologies capable of ensuring proper decontamination conditions of hundreds of masks simultaneously. To tackle these challenges, we developed an open-source wireless sensor platform---VeriMask1 ---that facilitates per-mask verification of the moist-heat decontamination process. VeriMask is capable of monitoring hundreds of masks simultaneously in commercially available heating systems and provides a novel throughput-maximization functionality to help operators optimize the decontamination settings. We evaluate VeriMask in laboratory and real-scenario clinical settings and find that it effectively detects decontamination failures and operator errors in multiple settings and increases the mask decontamination throughput. Our easy-to-use, low-power, low-cost, scalable platform integrates with existing hospital protocols and equipment, and can be broadly deployed in under-resourced facilities to protect front-line healthcare workers by lowering their risk of infection from reused N95 masks. We also memorialize the design challenges, guidelines, and lessons learned from developing and deploying VeriMask during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our hope is that by reflecting and reporting on this design experience, technologists and front-line health workers will be better prepared to collaborate for future pandemics, regarding mask decontamination, but also other forms of crisis tech.