Impact of face masks on voice radiation.

ABSTRACT: With the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of face masks covering mouth and nose has become ubiquitous all around the world. This study investigates the impact of typical face masks on voice radiation. To analyze the transmission loss caused by masks and the influence of masks on directivity, this study measured the full-spherical voice directivity of a dummy head with a mouth simulator covered with six masks of different types, i.e., medical masks, filtering facepiece respirator masks, and cloth face coverings. The results show a significant frequency-dependent transmission loss, which varies depending on the mask, especially above 2 kHz. Furthermore, the two facepiece respirator masks also significantly affect speech directivity, as determined by the directivity index (DI). Compared to the

SUBMITTER: Porschmann C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7857507 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature