Efficacy of an aerosol suction device Free-100 M in removing aerosols produced by coughing to minimize COVID-19 infection

PURPOSE: The healthcare workers are at the greatest risk of being exposed to viral infection during airway management of a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). An air extractor which suctions air around the patient's face would reduce the spread of viral aerosols during coughing, but no study has confirmed this. We assessed whether or not an air extractor reduces the amount of aerosols spreading toward the operator's face, during coughing of simulated patients. METHODS: After obtained approval of the study by a research ethics committee and written informed consent from 20 volunteers (and additional 20 volunteers), we asked each volunteer to lie supine on a table in a positive-pressure management operating room. As a cross-over design, we used an airborne particle counter (Handheld 3016, SGY company, Tokyo) to measure the aerosols approximately 30 cm above the participant's mouth, while the volunteer was coughing, with and without the use of an air extractor Free-100 M (Forest-one, Funabashi), facing the participant's mouth. In another 20 volunteers, the aerosols were measured, while each volunteer was lying supine, without coughing, and without the use of the air extractor. RESULTS: The aerosol count during coughing was significantly lower when the air extractor was used [median: 55 (interquartile range: 15–128)] than when it was not used [73 (44–201)] [p = 0.001, difference: 19 (95%CI: 4–70)]. CONCLUSIONS: The Free-100 M air extractor would reduce, but do not remove all, aerosols produced by coughing of a patient, and thus may reduce the risk of infection of COVID-19.