Families, masks are now being "played" to new heights.
The latest invention from Tongji University directly upgrades the mask into a "detector".
Developed a bio-electronic mask that detects the presence of viruses around it!
To be more specific, this mask can detect a wide range of common respiratory viruses, including influenza and coronaviruses (e.g., new coronavirus, H5N1, H1N1) within 10 minutes.
If a virus is detected, the mask will alert you via a mobile device like your phone.
The study was recently published in the journal Matter and, according to the researchers.
This electronic biomask can be used as an early warning diagnostic tool to prevent outbreaks of respiratory infectious diseases.
How do masks warn of viruses?
We know that people who cough or sneeze once, or even just talk for a few minutes, produce thousands of droplets containing infectious viruses.
These droplets also remain suspended in the air for a long time, using the air as a medium of transmission.
Based on this, the researchers propose a view that
Direct detection of viruses in the air may be the best method for early diagnosis of major infectious diseases.
However, past methods have often involved a range of problems such as sample pre-processing and the need for specialized personnel.
So to achieve this approach, real time, fast and easy, becomes the big problem.
So, researchers at Tongji University came up with the idea of combining the popular wearable electronic devices and masks to create a wearable wireless bioelectronic mask system.
When people wear such masks, a bioelectronic device mounted on the outside of the mask can directly analyze the air for infectious viruses.
At the same time, mobile devices like cell phones can also get real-time feedback on wireless data.
This mask contains an IGT (Independent Gas Transmission) device with a "poly(2,3-dihydrothiophene-1,4-dioxin)-poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)" channel material.
In addition to this, a breather valve and a PCB (printed circuit board) are included.
Researchers in order to make this device can and soft curved mask more fit, to build it is used by the material is thin and flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate.
And in the detection of viruses, this mask also needs to do "enough precision".
To this end, the researchers used a dual-solvent system to improve the compatibility of lipophilic ionic liquids and hydrophilic PVA to form a homogeneous ionic gel network.
In this way, long-term stability, high capacitance (16.5 μF cm-2) and strong ionic conductivity (5.95 × 10-3 S/cm at 25°C) can be obtained.
Due to the strong carrier induction and significant gating effect of the ionic gel dielectric layer, the IGT device exhibits a good field amplification performance.
Even for respiratory infectious diseases like COVID-19, H1N1 and H5N1 with viral protein concentrations as low as 0.1-10 fg/ml, accurate detection is possible.
The researchers also said the device can be sensitive to trace-level liquid samples as low as 0.3 μL, which is much smaller than the volume of virus-laden droplets produced by coughing and talking.
Finally, the team also did the IoT system integration work, and the bioelectronic mask can then be operated and monitored on mobile devices anytime and anywhere.
The researchers also stated.
Our masks are very effective in detecting poorly ventilated spaces, such as elevators or closed rooms, where the risk of infection is high.
If a new respiratory virus emerges in the future, the sensor design can be easily updated.
Research Team
The corresponding author of this article is Prof. Yin Fang of Tongji University School of Medicine.
The main research directions include: biomedical micro and nano devices and nanomaterials; implantable and wearable micro and nano devices; new brain-computer interface technology; diagnostic and therapeutic applications of nanomedicine in neurological system, heart diseases and cancer.
References
[1]https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(22)00477-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii% 2FS2590238522004775%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
[2] https://med.tongji.edu.cn/info/1401/7236.htm
Source: WeChat public number "quantum bit"
