Design and development of a low-cost powered air-purifying respirator for frontline medical workers for COVID-19 response

The coronavirus pandemic has affected millions of lives around the world. The availability of personal protective equipment at a low cost has been an important factor in determining the well-being of frontline health workers who are integral to the global response to COVID-19. This paper discusses the design and development of a low-cost open-source powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) for medical professionals which costs approximately INR 10,000. We detail the assembling process for this respirator using widely available components that allows for easy scale-up and replication in any country, thereby ensuring the safety of frontline health and sanitation workers who are at an elevated risk of contracting COVID-19. We worked with doctors at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences to test the prototype for airflow under varying battery life conditions and found it to provide 10 CFM airflow (1.7 times the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) airflow requirements) for over 7 hours without any long term effects due to noise from the actuators.