Analysis of hygienic face mask patterns for young people

Abstract

The hygienic face mask is a useful textile product for individuals, which covers the wearer’s nose and mouth. One of the hygienic face mask’s performance requirements is a close fit between the mask sheet and the wearer’s facial contours. The present study proposed an optimal shape and size for a mask sheet pattern that provides a sheet with high fit performance for a large number of people. The study experiments analyzed a variety of patterns: i.e. three types of two-dimensional (2D) pattern (i.e. second, third or fourth rings) were used to expand the face mask area to cover the wearers’ nose and mouth (first ring), and were analyzed based on three-dimensional (3D) coordinates of participants’ facial contours ( n = 132) with closed mouths. Subsequently, the analyzed patterns were used to make prototype mask sheets from nonwoven fabric. The fit performances of the face mask sheets were tested using a 3D analyzer. It was difficult to provide high fit performance at all measurement points; therefore, a range of 3 SD in the analyzed pattern was calculated with the aim of fitting more people with 100% precision. The results showed that a number of wearers, i.e. 91.7% (second ring), 93.2% (third ring) and 90.2% (fourth ring), had 100% precision. Moreover, the second ring pattern had the smallest 3 SD amount. These results show that the shape and size of the second ring pattern was most appropriate for young Japanese people with closed mouths.

Reusable Face Masks as Alternative for Disposable Medical Masks: Factors that Affect their Wear-Comfort

“…This may have been caused by the goodness of fit, which plays a dominant role in the wear trial [ 29 ] but was not taken into consideration in the laboratory experiments. Goodness of fit refers to the ability of the mask to fit the facial contours [ 30 ]. Kulichenko [ 10 ] noted that the results of laboratory tests conducted in a standard atmosphere can sometimes fail to reflect real conditions when the materials are practically used, since material properties may change under different temperatures.…”

Investigating facemask problems associated with wearing comfort and fit

“…Trial study of basic sheet designs 4.1 Development of the basic sheet pattern A three-dimensional facial shape of a Japanese female mannequin with average head characteristics was measured (Kouchi and Mochimaru, 2008). This study revised the analysis pattern of the fit at the nose against a previous study (Morishima and Mitsuno, 2019a). Figure 6 shows the measurement points on the facial surface (Morishima and Mitsuno, 2019b).…”

Medical textiles

“…The movement of the mouth can alter the pleats and can still create an air gap. To allow for the shape variation of the face with the mouth open and to achieve good fitting performance for a larger population, a mask sheet made from knitted fabric was proposed [544], but good mask fit which will also allow for the mouth to open and close still poses problems [545], as do the particular requirements in the design of masks for young people (with closed mouth) as explored by researchers from the same group; it proved difficult to achieve good fit for all face shapes [546].…”