A new wearable technology which renders COVID-19 useless on impact has been developed.
The brainchild of Akhand Armour CEO Meena Hanspal, the face coverings could be a useful tool in the fight against multiple variants of the killer disease.
“As soon as infected droplets land on the wearables, which are impregnated with a virus-destroying tech, the outer wall of the coronavirus is destroyed – rendering it useless,” she claims.
“Our methodologies neutralise the landed virus and bacteria. Killing it off means it cannot infect and cannot mutate.
“Not only do we mitigate contact-based transmission, we mitigate the likelihood of variants developing. By moving over to these wearables, we can help reduce background virus transference by removing landed infected droplets from circulation.”
Hanspal says this would mean “human virus neutralisers moving through the community”.
“In the same way as people can become ‘virus transmitters’, we can turn them into ‘human virus neutralisers’. There will be strength in numbers – the more people using the tech, the greater the shielding effect,” she said.
The dual pathway system for enhanced virus destruction has been tested and certified at MSL, a microbiological testing laboratory based in the UK. It is the first company to achieve an ISO certification for non-medical face masks and wearables scientifically confirming the landed virus is destroyed on contact with the fabric.
Proven effective against coronaviruses, the flu and bacteria as well as a multitude of other microbes, the ‘self-sanitising ecosystem’ includes face masks, sanitising face mask pocket cases, glasses cases, shopping bags and mobile phone cases.
It has also developed scarf-mask hybrids – trademarked as a Scarsk – for people who cannot use masks, and a baby-changing blanket for use in public facilities or when travelling.
The issue with ordinary face coverings is they can become an infectious surface and need to be worn with care. This is especially true when the virus is airborne.
Dr David Greensmith, one of Akhand’s scientific advisors and a leader in Infectious Diseases at the University of Salford, points out that face coverings can become contagious surfaces by collecting microbes through use.
He said: “A covering which is designed to prevent transmission may, after time, facilitate it… a face covering augmented in the way Akhand Armour have developed, can ultimately reduce the likelihood of microbe spread between individuals… and effectively contribute to a respective reduction in R value.”
COVID-19