Responding to the Need, Supporting our Community
N95 respirators, which protect wearers from coronavirus-containing particles, are in short supply for front-line healthcare workers and first responders. In addition, they are needed by clinicians treating non-COVID-19 patients, to help shield them from undiagnosed cases.
The University of Minnesota has assembled a multidisciplinary team of designers, engineers, and scientists from across the campus including participants in the College of Design, the College of Science and Engineering, Medical School and School of Public Health to develop face masks that can be used during the pandemic to help protect our frontline healthcare workers in crisis situations should N95 respirators not be available.
The MNmask Style 3 was developed by an interdisciplinary team (Dr. Rhonda Franklin – Electrical Engineer, Dr. Joan Bechtold, Biomedical Engineer, Dr. Susan Arnold and Mr. Neil Carlson – Industrial Hygienists . This team designed, developed and tested the open-license MNmask Style 3 over an 8 week period.
Kits to make these masks (100/kit) are available at no cost to UMN units for use on campus. To request a kit, email mnmask@umn.edu. The label and terms of use for the MNmask Style 3 face mask can be found here. Questions can be directed to mnmask@umn.edu
Learn more at: https://www.iem.umn.edu/medical-devices-ppe-masks