UTHSCT Residents Refurbish N95 Masks

April 10, 2020

UTHSCT Residents Refurbish N95 Masks

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler has developed a way to refurbish expired N95 respirators. With the current straps unusable on the N95 masks, occupational medicine residents have created a way to retrofit the elastic to meet the needs of healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Their innovative approach allows the face covering, which is still functional, to be preserved while attaching new straps to provide an appropriate fit, restoring full functionality. With assistance from Vice President for Safety, Health, Environmental and Risk Management Tim Ochran, Chief Resident Dr. Ashiq Zaman and Dr. Seena Rohani have worked tirelessly to fill this personal protective equipment void.

Since beginning the project, the production line has retrofitted approximately 18,500 masks for use by healthcare workers. Daily, the assembly line averages a production of 2,500 to 3,000 respirators. However, they anticipate to add an additional production line soon. This extra manpower is projected to restore functionality to an average of 5,000 masks per day. Moreover, the cadre is even exploring sanitization options to make these masks reusable.