Low-Cost Powered Respirators Allowing Service Businesses to Resume Operation

新型冠状病毒感染症（COVID-19）的传播速度很快，导致大部分依赖人际接触的服务企业停止运营。这在许多经济部门造成了巨大的经济损失，包括医疗保健（例如牙医）、个人服务（例如理发师）、小型零售商、维修店等。此外，很可能这些企业中的许多将不得不关闭数月，导致其中许多企业无法生存。在封锁解除后的较长一段时间内，幸存下来的企业将进一步面临严重的消费者恐惧，从而导致收入减少。目前迫切需要的是一种技术，使这些企业即使在产能减少的情况下也能尽快重新开业，同时防止COVID-19的传播。在这个项目中，我们正在快速开发一种低成本的动力呼吸器系统，使服务提供者能够近距离接触客户，而传播风险可以忽略不计。医院的经验表明，简单的口罩，即使是面罩，在近距离接触时基本上是无效的，服务提供者必须戴上全面口罩才能有效保护。然而，除了全球范围内呼吸器和消耗品（即过滤器）短缺之外，目前所有的呼吸器系统都将佩戴者呼出的空气直接排到客户的脸上，因此需要新的发展。显然，这只对穿戴者提供了保护，而不是对顾客。与向大多数企业和公众分发数千万个全面口罩和过滤器相比，新的口罩系统要便宜得多，也更可行。

The ease with which COVID-19 spreads has caused most service businesses, which rely on person-to-person contact, to cease operation. This is causing massive economic damage in many sectors of the economy, including healthcare (e.g. dentists), personal services (e.g. hairdressers), small retailers, repair shops, etc. Furthermore, it is likely that many of these businesses will have to remain closed for many months, leading to many of them not surviving. The businesses that do survive will further face significant consumer fear, and therefore reduced income, for an extended duration after the lock-downs are lifted. What is urgently needed is technology that will allow most of these businesses to re-open as soon as possible, even at reduced capacity, while simultaneously preventing the spread of COVID-19\. In this project we are rapidly developing a low-cost powered respirator system that will allow service deliverers to be in close proximity to customers with negligible risk of transmission. Hospital experience has shown that simple face masks, even with face shields, are largely ineffective in close proximity and service providers have to wear full-face masks for effective protection. However, a new development is needed since, in addition to the worldwide shortage of respirators and consumables (i.e. filters), all current respirator systems exhaust the wearers exhaled air directly into the face of the customer. Clearly this only provides protection for the wearer, and not the customer.The new respirator system would be far cheaper and more viable than distributing tens of millions of full-face respirators and a supply of filters to most businesses and members of the public.