De novo Powered Air-Purifying Respirator Design and Fabrication for Pandemic Response.

ABSTRACT: The rapid spread of COVID-19 and disruption of normal supply chains resulted in severe shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly devices with few suppliers such as powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs). A scarcity of information describing design and performance criteria represents a substantial barrier to new approaches to address these shortages. We sought to apply open-source product development to PAPRs to enable alternative sources of supply and further innovation. We describe the design, prototyping, validation, and user testing of locally manufactured, modular, PAPR components, including filter cartridges and blower units, developed by the Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team (PanFab). Two designs, one with a fully custom-made filter and blower unit hous

SUBMITTER: Kothakonda A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8020994 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature