EFFECT OF WEARING AN N95 FILTERING FACEPIECE RESPIRATOR ON SUPEROMEDIAL ORBITAL INFRARED INDIRECT BRAIN TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Clin Monit Comput
• Personal Author:
  DiLeo, Travis ; Roberge, Raymond J. ; Kim, Jung-Hyun
• Description:
  Purpose
  
  To determine any effect of wearing a filtering facepiece respirator on brain temperature.
  
  Methods
  
  Subjects (n=18) wore a filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) for 1h at rest while undergoing infrared thermography measurements of the superomedial periobital region of the eye, a non-invasive indirect method of brain temperature measurements we termed the superomedial orbital infrared indirect brain temperature (SOIIBT) measurement. Temperature of the facial skin covered by the FFR, infrared temperature measurements of the tympanic membrane and superficial temporal artery region were concurrently measured, and subjective impressions of thermal comfort obtained simultaneously.
  
  Results
  
  The temperature of the skin under the FFR and subjective impressions of thermal discomfort both increased significantly. The mean tympanic membrane temperature did not increase, and the superficial temporal artery region temperature decreased significantly. The SOIIBT values did not change significantly, but subjects who switched from nasal to oronasal breathing during the study (n=5) experienced a slight increase in the SOIIBT measurements.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Wearing a FFR for 1h at rest does not have a significant effect on brain temperatures, as evaluated by the SOIIBT measurements, but a change in the route of breathing may impact these measurements. These findings suggest that subjective impressions of thermal discomfort from wearing a FFR under the study conditions are more likely the result of local dermal sensations rather than brain warming.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Body Temperature Brain Female Humans Infrared Rays Male Monitoring, Physiologic N95 Respirators Occupational Exposure Respiratory Protective Devices Skin Temperature Thermography Time Factors Tympanic Membrane Ventilators, Mechanical Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  J Clin Monit Comput. 31(1):67-73
• Pubmed ID:
  26759336
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4942410
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  31
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:05f6ad383f161acd83794932727ed853eee3957a09137df2278982fadbf93000
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/40348/cdc_40348_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.03 MB ]