Impacts of Mask Covering on Human Breathing Examined by a Real-Time Magnetic Respiratory Monitor
Mentor Information
Manh-Huong Phan (Department of Physics)
Description
Due to the rise of Covid-19, it can be said that wearing a mask has become an essential part of everyone’s daily life. With a person’s face having to be covered for an extended period of time while interacting with others, many have raised concerns whether that extended period of mask wearing has any negative effects on one’s respiratory rate. Common practice and technology require most respiratory devices to be in direct contact with a person, leading to the possibility of inaccurate data. To this end, we have developed a novel sensing platform utilizing a non-invasive, contactless, magnetic sensor and a tiny permanent magnet that can precisely monitor a person’s breathing in real time. This device yields an accurate measure of the strength of the person’s breath during different stages of rest, as well as anomalous variations in respiratory rate and amplitude. Thus, the effects that a mask can have on a person can be examined and analyzed systematically. We show that long time mask-covering has considerable impacts on human breathing, and selecting an appropriate mask for each specific case is needed.
Impacts of Mask Covering on Human Breathing Examined by a Real-Time Magnetic Respiratory Monitor
Due to the rise of Covid-19, it can be said that wearing a mask has become an essential part of everyone’s daily life. With a person’s face having to be covered for an extended period of time while interacting with others, many have raised concerns whether that extended period of mask wearing has any negative effects on one’s respiratory rate. Common practice and technology require most respiratory devices to be in direct contact with a person, leading to the possibility of inaccurate data. To this end, we have developed a novel sensing platform utilizing a non-invasive, contactless, magnetic sensor and a tiny permanent magnet that can precisely monitor a person’s breathing in real time. This device yields an accurate measure of the strength of the person’s breath during different stages of rest, as well as anomalous variations in respiratory rate and amplitude. Thus, the effects that a mask can have on a person can be examined and analyzed systematically. We show that long time mask-covering has considerable impacts on human breathing, and selecting an appropriate mask for each specific case is needed.
