Covid: Fitted face masks designed after nurse's struggle

Gareth Smith set up MyMaskFit after wife Valerie, pictured, struggled to find a mask to fit her

A nurse who struggled to get face masks to fit her has inspired the design of custom-fitted ones for frontline healthcare workers.

Gareth Smith set up MyMaskFit after his wife, intensive care nurse Valerie Bednar, struggled to find a filtering face mask (FFP) to fit her.

Based in Swansea, the firm is working with a number of UK universities.

Ms Bednar said the masks are reusable so will reduce stress among staff and be better for the environment.

"I'm one of the people the standard disposable FFP3 masks doesn't fit my face," said Ms Bednar, who worked at Morriston Hospital in Swansea at the start of the pandemic but is currently on maternity leave.

"It was just the stress of trying to do what you need to do - the reason we go into nursing is to take care of people, and then the added level of 'am I being safe and do I have the protection that I need?'

"That uncertainty I think was stressful for everyone."

The company hopes to further develop a prototype designed by researchers at Birmingham University and King's College London.

Swansea University's School of Engineering will help test and manufacture the face mask, which it is hoped will be available to the NHS in Wales in the new year.

MyMaskFit said it is aiming to become the first to make a fully custom-fitted, reusable, filtering face piece masks made to a medical grade standard in the UK.

A mould for a face seal is created using a scan of someone's face

"We want to make a reusable mask so that staff can feel confident when they come in for their shift it will be there," Ms Bednar explained.

"You're involved in cleaning it and owning it - all of that gives people the sense of security and protection."

To speed up the design process and to achieve a seal which will fit anyone, the company has launched an app which will scan the face and send the data for a mould to be created and 3D printed.

MyMaskFit technology director Paul Perera said current masks vary widely in terms of design.

"There is an inevitable variation in the shape of human faces, and BMA surveys have shown that over 20% of hospital doctors have to try one or more masks to find one that fits," he said.

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Mr Perera said the firm was also working on a face mask which is made with "renewable plastics that are transparent" to aid communication.

He added: "We're also using a copper, embedded into the plastics, which kills the virus. Therefore the masks can be reusable and therefore more sustainable for the environment."

The initial manufacturing process and further testing of the prototypes will take place at Swansea University.