The sensor in a face mask can monitor the wearer’s, especially a health care professional’s physical and emotional health.

Medical workers including doctors and nurses often have to wear face masks for prolonged periods when attending to patients. Not only does it prevent them from any viral infections that a patient might carry, but also helps keep the hospital environment sterile.

But when working for extended hours with a face mask wrapped around the nose and mouth, the face can become numb. Any sudden deterioration in health could prove costly, both for the medical practitioner’s and the patient’s life. [1]

Figure 1. Intelligent Sensor Turns Face Mask into Smart Health Monitoring Device

Figure 1 shows even the best face masks, when worn out of the box, are liable to airflow leakage. They need to be fitted to really keep harmful particles out. This fitting process is standard in most hospital settings, but it’s time-consuming and imperfect.

FaceBit can’t replace this kind of fitting session yet, though its creators do hope to manage that in the future. Already, though, the device can help wearers understand when their mask isn’t fitting as well as it once did. This alert could be the difference between being partially protected and being fully protected. [2]

Control and monitor from anywhere.

Use the Schlage Home app on your smartphone to lock/unlock your door from anywhere, no additional accessory or hub required. You specify who has access and when by setting up to 100 permanent, recurring or temporary lock codes that you can change as you see fit or by sending virtual keys to trusted guests via text or email.

FaceBit Power Architecture

Wearable systems require a battery large enough to last a week or longer. But this necessity adds to the weight of the system and may cause discomfort to the user.

FaceBit employs a hybrid approach when it comes to power. It includes a battery holder for a small 105 mWh cell along with energy harvesting circuitry and storage devices for powering the board via both DC and AC power generation sources. It integrates three tantalum capacitors of 3mF that can hold a total of 104 µWh of harvested energy. These capacitors are charged by Texas Instrument's BQ25570 power management IC, which features a boost converter with MPPT, a charging circuit, and a buck converter for voltage regulation. [4]

Battery-free future

An expert in sustainable, battery-free technology, Hester hopes his team or others eventually will be able to make FaceBit completely battery free. Now, the wearer’s breathing and movements or the sun can extend the battery’s life. But, in the future, harvested thermal and kinetic energy could solely power the device.

Although his team evaluated the device on volunteers in real-world scenarios, Hester said FaceBit still needs to undergo clinical trials and validation. The team released the project as open source and open hardware so others can build and validate the device. [3]

References:

1. https://www.electronicsforu.com/special/editor-choice/sensor-face-mask-smart-health-monitoring-device
2. https://www.inputmag.com/tech/facebit-turns-any-mask-into-a-real-time-body-monitor
3. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/01/fitbit-for-the-face-can-turn-any-face-mask-into-smart-monitoring-device/
4. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/facebit-the-fitbit-for-the-face-attaches-smart-sensors-to-masks/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Intelligent Sensor Turns Face Mask into Smart Health Monitoring Device, pp. 136