Into Thin Air Using a 3-D camera to design a better-fitting inhalation mask
Dr. Israel Amirav knew there was a problem with the inhalation masks his patients were using. These standard masks were scaled down versions of adult masks and did not seal properly. Because of this, the medicine administered through the mask would dissipate in the air instead of being delivered to the child. He heard frustration from his patients’ parents in using the mask. “You know doctor, you prescribed this ventilator, but my son does not like it, he’s fighting it,” they’d say. Amirav set off to investigate how these masks were created. He found the current models used were based on adult measurements and the only mask that used children’s measurements was an airplane oxygen mask developed over 60 years ago. This mask was based on measurements of 30 to 40 children. Amirav decided the time was right to create a new mask. At the time, he was a pediatric pulmonologist in Northern Israel. He joined the Department of Pediatrics in June 2013. “I decided to measure infants’ faces and heard about the 3-D camera technology the computer science department created at Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel,” said Amirav. He made a connection and borrowed their camera, going into the local community to take pictures of about 300 children’s faces. Using the 3-D technology is a simple
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process. The camera is portable and each photo takes less than a minute to complete. Using the accompanying software, the photos are easily archived and analyzed. The software measures each child’s face by clicking on points of the face on the 3-D photo. The children measured were between the ages of zero to four years. Technion did a cluster analysis and divided the data into three different sizes: small, medium and large. Using a mathematical process, each child’s photo of each cluster size was averaged, producing the three average sizes. These sizes were transferred to the design of the mask. With the patient in mind, Amirav punched a hole in the mask so a pacifier could fit in. This creates an insulation effect in the mask and helps soothe the child in between taking the medicine. The masks have FDA and Health Canada approval and are being distributed here. Amirav is happy to see his idea come to life. “We can now give the mask to the mother to use on the child. They come back to us and say, ‘My child takes the medication and sleeps well now, doesn’t cough, and is developing well,’” said Amirav. ~ SK Dr. Israel Amirav is a pediatric respirologist and associate professor in the Division of Respiratory Medicine.