RAPID: Collaborative Research: New Generation of a Bio-inspired Protective Mask Based on Thermal & Vortex Traps

随着2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在全球的迅速传播，高防护性呼吸器口罩对于保护未感染人群至关重要。虽然病毒通过微小的气溶胶传播，但目前的口罩完全依赖于被动过滤器；并且可以从增强的气溶胶收集和病毒灭活机制中受益。我们建议设计一种高效，易于使用，具有成本效益的呼吸器设计，可以更有效地捕获微小的气溶胶。基于铜的过滤器和空气传播通道的组合，灵感来自嗅觉增强的动物的鼻子结构，将促进液滴捕获，然后通过热和离子效应灭活病毒。最终的呼吸器设计将直接解决全球紧急短缺和国家对更有效口罩的迫切需求。通过防止院内传播，该产品也可以成为医疗保健界的关键游戏规则改变者。为了加速从概念到产品的过渡，我们将寻求与病毒学实验室和制药公司合作，对COVID活体样本进行详细测试。这个合作项目将设计一种新型的、高效的、防病毒的口罩，灵感来自于具有增强嗅觉敏感性的动物的鼻子结构。通过使用铜基过滤器和由螺旋铜线引起的周期性热梯度的生物启发曲折通道的组合，可以从吸入的空气中捕获携带病毒的小气溶胶液滴。气溶胶捕获将通过调节弯曲几何结构中的流动结构动力学（涡流阱）和沿着呼吸器内壁的热泳动作（热阱）来实现。壁上循环的冷/热温度变化，以及铜材料的离子活性，将被用来灭活被困的病毒。这些机制的使用得到了对早期和当前冠状病毒株发表的观察结果的支持。该项目将整合主要研究人员的理论、实验和计算专业知识，优化新时代呼吸器的设计，从而从根本上更有效地预防COVID-19的传播。为了满足公众的迫切需求，研究人员将与制药和制造公司以及大学生物安全3级实验室单位建立合作关系，进行非临床体内测试，并确保拟议的防毒面具原型的快速开发。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the rapid spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide, highly-protective respirator masks can be crucial to safeguard the uninfected population. While virus transmission occurs via tiny aerosols, current mask coverings rely purely on passive filters; and can benefit from enhanced aerosol-collection and virus-inactivation mechanisms. We propose to engineer a highly-efficient, easy-to-use, cost-effective respirator design that will be significantly more efficient at capturing tiny aerosols. A combination of copper-based filters and an air-transmission passage inspired by nasal structures in animals with an enhanced sense of smell will facilitate droplet capture, followed by virus inactivation via thermal and ionic effects. The final respirator design will directly address the urgent global shortage and immediate national need for more effective masks. By preventing nosocomial transmission, the product can also be a critical game-changer for the healthcare community. For an accelerated concept-to-product transition, we will seek collaborations with virology labs and pharmaceutical companies for detailed testing with live COVID samples.This collaborative project will engineer a novel, highly-efficient, virus-preventive respirator mask inspired by nasal structures in animals with enhanced olfactory sensitivity. Small aerosol droplets that can carry viruses will be captured from inhaled air by using a combination of copper-based filters and a bio-inspired tortuous passage with periodic thermal gradients induced by spiral copper wires. The aerosol capture will be articulated by modulating the dynamics of flow structures in the convoluted geometry (vortex trap) and by thermophoresis action along the respirator’s internal walls (thermal trap). Cyclic cold/hot temperature changes on the walls, along with ionic activity from the copper material, will be used to inactivate the trapped viruses. The use of these mechanisms is supported by published observations on earlier and current strains of coronavirus. The project will integrate the theoretical, experimental, and computational expertise of the principal investigators in optimizing the design for a new-age respirator, which can be radically more effective at preventing the transmission of COVID-19. To meet the urgent public need, the researchers will establish collaborations with pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies as well as university-based Biosafety Level – 3 lab units for non-clinical in vivo testing and to ensure rapid prototype development of the proposed respirator masks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.