Low-cost, Reusable, Fabric Mask with Virus Trapping and Inactivation Properties

与新冠肺炎疫情有关的冠状病毒似乎具有极强的传染性，迫使所有卫生和护理人员采取相当大的预防措施，以防止感染或传播病毒。这导致了对一次性个人防护设备(PPE)的巨大需求，特别是口罩。来自全球医疗体系的如此高的需求正在延伸供应链，导致普通公众无法找到合适的口罩供自己使用。对于大量无法获得适当个人防护用品的老年人和高危人群来说，这尤其糟糕，这实际上使他们在社会上处于孤立状态，直到获得疫苗接种。Hohouse Medical旨在证明一种具有病毒捕获和灭活特性的低成本织物口罩的可行性。具有主动消毒性能的替代口罩的一个关键区别是，我们的技术预计可以耐受多次、重复的高温洗衣周期，从而创造出真正可重复使用的物品。评估将确认这种口罩技术是否能够耐受反复高温洗涤，同时保持捕获和灭活冠状病毒的能力。

The Coronavirus associated with the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be extremely contagious, forcing all health and care workers to take considerable precautions against being infected or passing the virus on. This has resulted in a huge demand for single-use Personal Protection Equipment, (PPE), particularly Face Masks. Such high demands from global healthcare systems are outstretching supply chains, leaving the general public unable to source suitable masks for their own use. This is particularly bad for the huge number of elderly and at-risk individuals who do not have access to appropriate PPE, effectively leaving them socially isolated until a vaccination becomes available.Hothouse Medical aims to demonstrate feasibility of a low-cost, fabric mask with virus trapping and inactivation properties. A key differentiator between alternative masks with active sanitization properties is that our technology is expected to tolerate multiple, repeat, high temperature laundry cycles, thus creating a truly re-usable item.Evaluations will confirm if such a mask technology can tolerate repeated high temperature washing whilst maintaining the ability to trap and inactivate Coronaviruses.