Visualizing Breath

Wearing face coverings is a simple and effective way to reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. The invisible nature of human breath, however, makes it hard to judge the efficacy of different mask materials and designs.

By building a Schlieren imaging system to visualize breath, I assisted ophthalmologists at the Stanford School of Medicine and science educators at the Exploratorium to bring awareness to best practices with masks in clinical and social settings.

ophthalmology Clinics

In June 2020 I was contacted by an ophthalmologist in the Stanford School of Medicine. Having seen my work on thermal imaging, he asked whether I could help him visualize breath to develop best practices regarding face coverings in ophthalmology clinics. His concern was that the redirected plume of breath from a face mask could contaminate the multi-dose eye drop bottle that is reused from patient to patient, which can theoretically increase the risk of COVID transmission. I built a Schlieren imaging system with a 12" diameter telescope mirror and we investigated techniques to suppress the breath plume. Our results were published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

Seeing Your Breath: Using Science to Choose the Proper Mask

In August 2019 I went to the Exploratorium for an After Dark event focused on lasers. I remember standing in front of their Giant Mirror and wondering what it could be used for. In July 2020, towards the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had an idea inspired by a blog post at NIST. I called the Exploratorium and asked whether I could use the Giant Mirror as part of a large shadowgraph imaging system. They were exited about the idea, and we started on a collaboration that would eventually produce this educational video. It's also available in Spanish!

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