The LAB: Innovating a Surgical Mask with Task Unification (May 2009)
Crisis creates opportunity. That certainly has been the case for surgical mask makers and retailers as people scramble to buy them to protect against the H1N1 swine flu virus. Companies and governments are ordering masks by the case load. The surgical mask has become the number four selling item in women’s apparel at Amazon.com, moving ahead of another strapped item – the bra. The rush to protect against the virus extends beyond surgical masks as people seek any form of protection. Soon we will be tracking the pandemic on our iPhones.
Surgical masks have been around since 1860. Since then, lots of innovation has occurred. One of my favorites is shown here – a clear mask so that doctors and nurses can see each others’ face to improve communications. The fashionable surgical mask idea has been around for a very long time, but it is back with a vengeance.
There is debate about the value of surgical masks in the operating room. Experts question whether they protect people from viruses like swine flu. At best, masks seem capable of short term protection from large particle droplets transmitted at close contact. Masks prevent transmission both to and from the wearer.
Given the questionable efficacy of surgical masks, this would seem a ripe opportunity for PROBLEM-TO-SOLUTION innovation using a methods such as TRIZ and Goldfire. For this LAB, I will use Systematic Inventive Thinking (SOLUTION-TO-PROBLEM innovation) to see if there are novel ideas to extend the value of the surgical mask and perhaps address some of the unmet needs as well. For this exercise, I am using a 3M 8210 respirator version that is N95 rated. We start by listing the components: