[Cy-Tech Plus] Developed AI Mask for Automatic Filter Adjustment… "Easier to breathe when exercising"

Seoul National University Professor Seung Hwan Ko " Performance of dental, KF80, KF94 is realized withe mask"

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-young = A domestic research team has developed an artificial intelligence mask that automatically adjusts filter performance, controls filtration efficiency, and makes breathing easier for the wearer by detecting the breathing conditions such as ambient air pollution and movement of the wearer.



Seoul National University's Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor Seung Hwan Ko's team identified air pollution and breathing conditions through sensors attached to the inside and outside of the mask in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal 'ACS Nano' the 1st and identified micropores in the filter. They announced that they has developed an artificial intelligence mask that automatically adjusts the size.

 

The artificial intelligence mask developed by Professor Seung Hwan Ko's team at Seoul National University automatically adjusts the size of filter micropores according to the level of ambient air pollution or the wearer's activity status, making it easier to breathe. [Excerpt from ACS Nano 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c06204. Resale and DB ban]



Due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 1) pandemic, masks have become a necessity both indoors and outdoors. Widely used masks are divided into dental masks, KF80, and KF94 according to the filtration efficiency of the filter to filter out fine dust.



Users can choose to use a dental mask, which has slightly low filtration efficiency for outdoor activities or exercise, but is easy to breathe, and can select and use KF94 in highly polluted places or indoors with many people, but it is difficult to carry and use each type of mask.



To solve this inconvenience, the research team devised a mask in which the performance of the filter, a key part of the mask, is automatically adjusted according to the environmental pollution level or the user's activity status.

 

First, the research team developed an air filter that allows more air to pass through when you are outdoors with low pollution levels or when you are short of breath due to exercise.



Experimental results of this air filter made of elastic nanofibers manufactured by the electrospinning process show that the air permeability greatly increases when expanded, while the filtration efficiency decreases byly about 6%.



Next, the research team placed elastic fibers around the air filter that adjust the size of the filter by stretching or shrinking depending the level of pollution and activity. The stretchable fibers are connected to lightweight devices made up of sensors, air pumps and microcontroller chips.







Artificial Intelligence Mask Filter Structure and Operation Experimental Figure [ACS Nano Paper Capture. Resale and DB Prohibited]



The device is connected to an external computer's artificial intelligence algorithm to expand the micropore size of the filter by increasing the elastic fiber through the air pump when it is in a highly polluted place or when you run out of breath due to exercise.



Professor Ko said, "As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the filter micropores slightly increased when exercising in clean air compared to a place with high pollution.”



He continued, "It is a prototype mask that proves that it is possible to implement the functions of a dental mask, KF80, and KF94 mask withe mask. “, he added.



Go to article  https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20210930141200009?section=search