RFID Research Against COVID-19 – Sensorized Face Masks
Giulio Maria Bianco, Nicoletta Panunzio, Gaetano Marrocco
Abstract
The last two years were strongly shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing countermeasures. The worldwide research changed as well, focusing on the problems created or exacerbated by the novel coronavirus. The Pervasive Electromagnetics Lab of the Tor Vergata University of Rome with a great engagement of several medical engineering students focused on applying sensor-oriented RFID to improve personal safety. In particular, the sensorization of the filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) was one of the COVID-inspired research topics. FFRs integrating RFID-based sensors were designed and tested. In this contribution, the most significant results achieved are summarized regarding humidity-sensing and cough-monitoring FFRs.