Puerto Rico patented a mask that you can eat without removing it

Researchers at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) on Tuesday patented a so-called “Dynamic Facial Mask” designed to be taken without removing food as a health measure against Covit-19.

Patent numbered 11134729, issued by the U.S. Patent and Commerce Office, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology so that if one wants to drink or eat, the mask will open automatically.

As Abe Schwartz explained in a presentation by the director of the Center for Biomedical Innovation, which is affiliated with the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UPR’s Medical Science campus, the process of patenting this prototype began in December 2020, but not until then. It was approved in October this year.

Two prototypes were treated

“Through this prototype we decided to do a team project to find out if a group could eat safely. Thus, the parameters of the virtual discussions and situations for creating masks were small,” Swartz said. At least 30 patents.

The director of the Center for Biomedical Innovation explained that two prototypes were discussed to finalize the patent, the first of which did not work due to the lack of RFID technology. The second won.

The mask comes with utensils such as forks and spoons, which can be disinfected against govt-19, which businesses can use and more people can enter restaurants.

The attached utensils have the RFID tag, while a transponder receiver and servo-mechanism on the mask opens and closes an opening that allows you to eat and drink without removing or touching it.

The patent was created by eight inventors, four of whom were undergraduate students from three divisions of UPR, who attended workshops hosted by the Biomedical Innovation Center.

Currently, the team in charge of the patent has developed two prototypes of the mask using three-dimensional printers, which demonstrates the feasibility of the invention.

Next step: your marketing

UPR is the patent holder, and the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office, directed by engineer Yave Gomez Torres, will coordinate the commercialization of the invention.

“This is a significant project for the UPR patent portfolio,” said Gomez Torres, noting that the island’s leading educational institution holds 109 patents.

“This patent gives us an advantage in marketing and generating revenue for UPR,” the engineer said, adding that over the past four years, the number of UPR’s patents has increased by 30% to its portfolio. $ 110,000 income.

According to Gomez Torres, “Beyond the economic aspect of this patent, we need to look at how URP researchers are developing new technology that will affect the world.”

“It should be measured on an economic level, but its intellectual impact contributes to society, not just Puerto Rican, but the hemisphere and the world,” the engineer said, describing the invention as “novel, worthwhile”. And obviously not. “

In Puerto Rico, as of this Tuesday, 151,827 people had been infected with Kovit-19 and 3,234 had died from the virus, while 61 patients had been hospitalized, according to health department data.