In five minutes, Brianna Slatnick can teach hospital staff how to make an air-filtering faceguard akin to the N95 respirators that are widely recommended to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Made with simple parts that cost less than $3 combined and are common in hospitals, the version she and colleagues created does not look factory-made, but they say it works.
A viral video of the technique, developed at Boston Children’s Hospital, shows Slatnick, a surgical innovation fellow and general surgery resident, as she fits together an anesthesia mask with a basic filter, attaches elastic straps, and pulls the contraption to her face. The invention has not been approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the
