Designing BreatheFree – a bioinspired breathing mask

In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, protective masks are vital for the safety of the medical workers on the front lines, employees of essential businesses, and even those working from home. The gold standard of masks is commonly talked about N95, but these masks are have reported to restrict airflow for some people, making it more difficult for the wearer to breathe. For healthy individuals, this is a minor inconvenience, but for those afflicted with chronic respiratory diseases like COPD, a disease that affects roughly 65 million people worldwide, breathing through N95 masks can be so difficult that many are forced to forgo masks altogether, at great risk to themselves and others. Right now, there are no good solutions out there for people with COPD, but we here at BreatheFree have created a mask to help them using bioinspiration.

Here’s a short film covering our inspiration, discovery process, analysis and a solution.