Ultra Low Cost Face Shield for Non Medical Use

In the ongoing scenario where PPE is difficult to get hands on and people getting infected daily on a high basis, flattening the curve is very important! Preventive measures are being taken everywhere but sometimes they are not followed seriously. Coming from the world's 2nd largest population, India is also facing the same problem as other countries. Having a low cost solution was very important. Amidst the lock down, many factories and connectivity have been shut down. So I tried to come up with a solution of my own. An Ultra low Cost Face Shield for Non Medical Use.

Why a face shield?

A face shield, an item of personal protective equipment (PPE), aims to protect the wearer's entire face (or part of it) from hazards such as flying objects, In medical applications, "face shield" refers to a variety of devices used to protect a medical professional (in this case, the common man) during a procedure that might expose them potentially infectious fluids, in the current scenario, the Coronavirus.

Health care workers are exposed to potentially infectious airborne particles while providing routine care to coughing patients. A coughing patient simulator and a breathing worker simulator was used to investigate the exposure of health care workers to cough aerosol droplets, and to examine the efficacy of face shields in reducing this exposure. Our results showed that 0.9% of the initial burst of aerosol from a cough can be inhaled by a worker 46 cm (18 inches) from the patient. During testing of an influenza-laden cough aerosol with a volume median diameter (VMD) of 8.5 μm, wearing a face shield reduced the inhalational exposure of the worker by 96% in the period immediately after a cough. The face shield also reduced the surface contaminationof a respirator by 97%. When a smaller cough aerosol was used (VMD = 3.4 μm), the face shield was less effective, blocking only 68% of the cough and 76% of the surface contamination. In the period from 1 to 30 minutes after a cough, during which the aerosol had dispersed throughout the room and larger particles had settled, the face shield reduced aerosol inhalation by only 23%. Increasing the distance between the patient and worker to 183 cm (72 inches) reduced the exposure to influenza that occurred immediately after a cough by 92%.

Source : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467190

A face shield should works more effectively when worn with a mask.

Target Audience : Essential Workers, Government staff, Policemen, Cleaning staff, Bankers, NGO workers, Common public etc.

Feasibility of the Design: Easily available material in every city, Designed for Mass Manufacturing, Cost Effective, Easy to Assemble, Adds a value and seriousness of the situation as every person has to engage in the assembly of the face shield, reduces the chances of transmission of the disease by 92% with the effectiveness of a mask and Social Distancing!