A Scalable Method of Applying Heat and Humidity for Decontamination of N95 Respirators During the COVID-19 Crisis

Loïc Anderegg; Cole Meisenhelder; Chiu Oan Ngooi; Lei Liao; Wang Xiao; Steven Chu; Yi Cui; John M Doyle

The protocol we performed used two masks of each type, one of which was treated as the control, and did not undergo heating, and one mask which went through five decontamination cycles. Each mask in the test group was fit tested prior to the decontamination cycles to ensure that the mask was not defective. Masks in the test group that passed this initial fit test were then run through the decontamination cycle five times. Between each cycle the test mask was removed from the container and fit tested. The control group masks were fit tested six times to correspond to the initial fit test and the fit test the test group masks would receive after each decontamination cycle. For the test group masks that underwent all five decontamination cycles, we performed three fit tests instead of just one. This was done to provide a better sampling of any variance in the user's ability to form a tight seal with the mask and demonstrate whether there had been any degradation at the very end of the cycles.