Virtual fit and design improvements of a filtering half-mask for sub-adult wearers
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | ERGONOMICS |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00140139.2023.2298984 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2023.2298984 |
| Keywords | Personal protective equipment; 3D face database; subadults; sizing system; virtual design; virtual fit assessment; centroid size |
| Description | The recent pandemic has shown that protecting the general population from hazardous substances or pathogens can be a challenging and urgent task. The key element to adequate protection is appropriately sized, well-fitted and sufficiently distributed personal protective equipment (PPE). While these conditions are followed for adult PPE wearers, they are less considered when it comes to protecting subadults. In this study, the assessment of the fit and design improvements of a 3Dprinted facial half mask for subadult wearers (4–18 years) is designed. The target population was represented by 1137 subadults, aged 4.06–18.94 years, for whom 3D face models were acquired. The half mask tested, which was originally provided in one subadult size, did not fit appropriately the target population. This finding prompted the creation of four size categories using the agedependent distribution of the centroid size calculated from 7 facial landmarks. For each size category, a modified half-mask virtual design was created, including resizing and reshaping, and fit was evaluated visually and numerically using averaged and random 3D face representatives. |
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