Covid-19: Thai nurses come up with something better than N95 masks - N99

 

Picture: Sanook

 

Thai nurses at a leading university have come up with a better alternative to protect medical personnel on the front line battling the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

Sanook reported that as cases rise continually in Thailand nurses at the Vachira faculty of medicine at Navamindradhiraj University in Bangkok have used items already available to medical staff to upgrade N95 masks. 

 

The N99 masks with filters are also known as "Cambridge Masks" and provide added protection from dust, bacteria and viruses. 

 

Dr Anan Manomaiphiboon at the uni said that the devices had been tested and would be put to use in the fight against Covid-19. 

 

Sanook called them "Thai" face masks, though the technology was developed abroad and the masks are known as "British Military Grade" in online assessments. 

 

It appears that the Thais have managed to fashion them cheaply and effectively from items that are readily available in hospital settings. 

 

Source: Sanook

 

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11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Sanook called them "Thai" face masks, though the technology was developed abroad and the masks are known as "British Military Grade" in online assessments. 

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

Filters from Drägerwerke AG in germany, not british at all, based in in Lübeck, should work: https://www.draeger.com/en_uk/Products/Electrostatic-Filter

 

as a german i autoapprove this design

 

PS: must be really hard for journalists to actually google the thing on the picture...

PS2: Obviously it's also not military grade, those are filters for ICU ventilators ..... ..... 

This article is extremely confused. Cambridge Masks are just a brand of retail N99 mask and have nothing to do with what these nurses are doing.

Heck that ain't nothing...  David Carradine came up with the BKK N100 mask years back

If no medical personnels infected, I would like to call it N99.9.  0.01 is an accident.

I'm waiting for BNK48 mask

With thai baby-size face,

this mask looks to big...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8up_9HLo-M

This is a good idea. Those Ventilator filters are likely rated at at least an N95 rating, which is 0.3 microns filtration. What would be an even better solution would be a full faced CPAP mask and then attach the same filter. 

 

1 hour ago, Mavideol said:

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

'Cause they aren't British Military Grade, duh. Nor were they developed abroad, though the basic tech was.

 

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

nurses at the Vachira faculty of medicine at Navamindradhiraj University in Bangkok have used items already available to medical staff to upgrade N95 masks.

    . . .

It appears that the Thais have managed to fashion them cheaply and effectively from items that are readily available in hospital settings. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mavideol said:

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

Actually if you look at the maker name on the filter, you will find that it is Drager, the Mercedes Benz of medical equipment and yes, a German company.

 

At a guess, what they have actually done is to take regular masks and fit the Drager filter onto them. The filter might be a spare part for a machine, such as a baby incubator, to filter the air going in to ensure that no viruses get in that way. Not sure about whether they allow sufficient air intake - the trouble is that if not, air gets in via the sides of the mask (otherwise the nurse dies through lack of oxygen!)

6 minutes ago, Proboscis said:

Actually if you look at the maker name on the filter, you will find that it is Drager, the Mercedes Benz of medical equipment and yes, a German company.

 

At a guess, what they have actually done is to take regular masks and fit the Drager filter onto them. The filter might be a spare part for a machine, such as a baby incubator, to filter the air going in to ensure that no viruses get in that way. Not sure about whether they allow sufficient air intake - the trouble is that if not, air gets in via the sides of the mask (otherwise the nurse dies through lack of oxygen!)

That's right. The filter is an add on attachment to a ventilator that filters the air as the ventilator gives a breath and then the patient exhales. Filtration occurs in both directions. It is a good point, that would need to be individually tested, to see if they can in fact take a breath sufficient enough to get oxygen in (21% oxygen in normal air). Testing would be easy, they would simply attach their pulse oximetry device to determine their oxygen percentage levels in blood while wearing the mask. 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai nurses at a leading university have come up with a better alternative to protect medical personnel on the front line battling the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ahh, Thai nurses, the new researchers, the old experts sleeping

7.99 dollar in China, of course you can also use water bottles to put over your head, which happens

Ever wanted to wear a bra or sexy underwear, now you can as you can put it over your mouth.

Or just the half of a big orange, grapefruit, mellon. People think of everything to put over there mouth/face.

  

 

 

1 hour ago, Tounge Thaied said:

This is a good idea. Those Ventilator filters are likely rated at at least an N95 rating, which is 0.3 microns filtration. What would be an even better solution would be a full faced CPAP mask and then attach the same filter. 

I can image how I would sweat under that mask in the Thai heat

8 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

I can image how I would sweat under that mask in the Thai heat

Yeah... good point. Could make wearing this impractical in the heat. 

3 hours ago, Mavideol said:

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

Tom (truck driver), Dick (plumber), and Harry (brock layer) are unware of the fact that a patent can be given to anybody who improves an exisiting product by making it cheap using easily available alternative componenets. 

 

The saga of Tom, Dick, and Harry in the time of Corona continues...

2 hours ago, BigStar said:

 

'Cause they aren't British Military Grade, duh. Nor were they developed abroad, though the basic tech was.

 

 

 

 

just to clarify, where did I say they WERE British Military Grade....I mention a post that you may have missed, so here it is again """" masks are known as "British Military Grade" in online assessments"""

Would you please reference where we can find the research data to validate  they are more effective against this particular airborne contaminant?

 

yeah, that is what I thought... there are reasons why so many Thai nurses doctors and other allied HC professionals seek further training and post graduate education in the west...

 

I would say SCBAs and full face air purifying respirators are also more effective in air contaminated environments...but they aren’t going to be used and I’ll let you figure out why...

 

if I was still practicing in this type of environment, I would have given the staff the option of fit tight chemical goggles given the uncertainty of actual transmission (inhalation vs mucous membranes or both)...face shields better than nothing but googles are superior... 

4 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Filters from Drägerwerke AG in germany, not british at all, based in in Lübeck, should work: https://www.draeger.com/en_uk/Products/Electrostatic-Filter

 

as a german i autoapprove this design

 

PS: must be really hard for journalists to actually google the thing on the picture...

PS2: Obviously it's also not military grade, those are filters for ICU ventilators ..... ..... 

read Thomas, it did not say British made. So calm down.

28 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

Would you please reference where we can find the research data to validate  they are more effective against this particular airborne contaminant?

https://www.draeger.com/en-us_us/Hospital/Products/Accessories-and-Consumables/Ventilation-Accessories/Breathing-System-Filters-and-HME/Viral-Bacterial-Filters

 

They are literally Viral filters...

 

5 minutes ago, bluedoc said:

read Thomas, it did not say British made. So calm down.

 

No idea who you are even, calling these things british military grade is just plain wrong and not mentioned at all in the original article. 

5 hours ago, Mavideol said:

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

National pride. The Hub of Pride.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Covid-19: Thai nurses come up with something better than N95 masks - N99

Why don't you use real gas masks ???????

5 hours ago, Mavideol said:

called Thai masks but developed abroad AKA/called British Military Grade, why didn't they call them by that name

Face is the reason.

deleted.

 

1 hour ago, ThomasThBKK said:

https://www.draeger.com/en-us_us/Hospital/Products/Accessories-and-Consumables/Ventilation-Accessories/Breathing-System-Filters-and-HME/Viral-Bacterial-Filters

 

They are literally Viral filters...

 

 

No idea who you are even, calling these things british military grade is just plain wrong and not mentioned at all in the original article. 

Quote from the OP and the last 2 paragraphs

 

"Sanook called them "Thai" face masks, though the technology was developed abroad and the masks are known as "British Military Grade" in online assessments. 

It appears that the Thais have managed to fashion them cheaply and effectively from items that are readily available in hospital settings."

 

I put the relevant bit in bold.

2 hours ago, Mavideol said:

just to clarify, where did I say they WERE British Military Grade....I mention a post that you may have missed, so here it is again """" masks are known as "British Military Grade" in online assessments"""

In addressing your puzzlement, I didn't say you said they WERE British Military Grade. The point is, nor did anyone else say they ARE. In fact, these aren't those British Military Grade masks referred to in "online assessments" from which these take inspiration. There are no "online assessments" of these masks except here--unless you wish to direct us to some. And even if there are, calling them the same as the "British Military Grade" masks, they're simply wrong. Got it now? 

 

These masks aren't officially known as "Thai masks," so you can forget all the face-saving, blah blah. A writer on a popular Thai site for the masses merely called them that, maybe even a little tongue-in-cheek. (TVF writers put their own spin on things.) And this jerry-rigging is kinda Thai, is unique (far as we know), and this name should do fine for now as reference. This mask will likely not be produced in volume but is just an attempt to scrap together a few things to alleviate the shortage of the real stuff. It isn't being claimed as some big invention. It IS kinda neat, though, and good on the Thai nurses for coming up with it. Certainly nobody here did.

 

N95, n99 - shows that the old Nokia phones do have some use...

So misleading, the nurses did not "come up with them" at all

They have existed for a considerable time, so why the article at all, much let alone it being regurgitated here.