{"id":162398,"date":"2020-07-02T12:38:54","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T16:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=162398"},"modified":"2020-09-02T11:45:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T15:45:15","slug":"uconn-made-covid-19-mask-solution-coming-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/07\/uconn-made-covid-19-mask-solution-coming-market\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn-made COVID-19 Mask Solution Coming to Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

Within six weeks of announcing a successful method to fabricate custom-fit mask frames to optimize protection from the spread of COVID-19<\/a>, UConn has a licensing deal with a Connecticut manufacturer to produce them.<\/p>\n

Connecticut Biotech<\/a>, a startup company headquartered in South Windsor, aims to start marketing, manufacturing, and distributing 3D-printed mask frames under the brand Secure Fit later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important technology that can help a lot of people by providing a specific way to make regular surgical masks more protective,\u201d says Dr. Cato T. Laurencin<\/a>, CEO of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see technology that started here in the state of Connecticut being developed by a Connecticut company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurencin and his scientists came up with a way to create add-ons for masks that enhance their effectiveness by improving their fit.<\/p>\n

\"Lab
Amir Seyedsalehi (left), a graduate research assistant in the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, works with UConn Health float pool nurse Amy Lipka to create a customized mask frame using facial recognition software. (Photo by Eva Homan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe novel aspect is using 3D facial recognition technology on two-dimensional images to decipher the topography of the face and create a 3D mask frame,\u201d says Amit Kumar, director of licensing and business development in UConn\u2019s Office of the Vice President for Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited about this public-private partnership with UConn and the opportunity to use and build upon our vast experience to rapidly commercialize this much-needed device,\u201d says Connecticut Biotech CEO Donald J. Vacarro. \u201cWe applaud Dr. Cato Laurencin\u2019s team for developing a custom mask frame that secures filtration and positioning of most mask types.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consumers will be able to order Secure Fit mask frames directly at www.connecticutbiotech.com<\/a>. The custom fit will require submitted photos of their face, one from the front and one from the side, using any camera phone. The mask frames will retail for around $40.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thrilled to see our Connecticut Convergence Institute\u2019s innovative approach to customizing protective masks taking the next step toward commercialization and societal impact,\u201d says UConn President Tom Katsouleas<\/a>. \u201cThis is a shining example of UConn\u2019s ability to innovate and provide solutions for global problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concept of using facial-recognition software to pinpoint 3D printing specifications for custom fitting, for which UConn submitted a patent application in mid-April, is among a series of recent efforts by the Convergence Institute to address the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the work that we’ve done shows the range of activities that we’ve created in terms of answering the call to provide solutions for COVID-19,\u201d Laurencin says. \u201cFirst is the understanding of the level of the complexity of the issue involved with our papers published on COVID-19 in the Black community<\/a>, second, by creating a physical solution for COVID-19 in terms of our new masks systems that create a better, more comprehensive fit for individuals using them, and third is the creation of this new method for greeting<\/a> that takes into account our new era of social distancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecticut Biotech was founded earlier this year, seeking to use domestic and international marketing capacity to provide high-quality biotech solutions, reduce COVID-19\u2019s impact on society, and create jobs in Connecticut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Licensing deal with Connecticut Biotech of South Windsor enables commercial production of custom-fit mask frames developed by UConn\u2019s Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":160019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2213,2231,179,2225,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-162398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-health-well-being","category-uconn-health","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-edu-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 02:23:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162398"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164058,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162398\/revisions\/164058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/160019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162398"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=162398"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=162398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}