USC Caruso research team develops pioneering ‘procedure’ mask

Infectious disease experts have long known the way to keep a deadly virus from spreading across hospital wards is to confine contagious patients to negative-pressure rooms.

Now researchers at the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery are taking that idea to the next level, developing a procedure face mask that lets them safely scope their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mask goes on the patient, not the doctor.

Negative air pressure inside the mask prevents viral contamination of the clinic space, and built-in sensors and air-flow balance control allows the use of supplementary oxygen, meaning even very sick patients can undergo endoscopy.

Read the rest of the story, USC Caruso research team develops pioneering ‘procedure’ mask, which first appeared on Keck School of Medicine News.

You can learn more about it on Flintbox under USC case number 2020-223: COVID in the Clinic: Negative Chamber Mask Technology for Safe Endoscopy or contact Radhika Palkar, Licensing Associate, at rpalkar@usc.edu.