‘Smart mask’ analyses breath for signs of medical conditions

In contrast to other smart masks being developed that monitor physical changes like the temperature, humidity, or rate of breath, the EBCare smart mask can analyse the chemicals in a person’s breath in real time. In use, the mask could monitor asthma patients for levels of nitrite, a chemical that indicates airway inflammation. The mask is detailed in Science.

Lead researcher, Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at Caltech, said: "Monitoring a patient's breath is something that is routinely done, for example, to assess asthma and other respiratory conditions. However, this has required the patient to visit a clinic for sample collection, followed by a waiting period for lab results.

"Since COVID-19, people are wearing masks more. We can leverage this increased mask use for remote personalised monitoring to get real-time feedback about our own health in our home or office. For instance, we could use this information to assess how well a medical treatment may be working."