Useful face‐protective shield “ORIGAMI” for gastrointestinal endoscopy during the COVID‐19 pandemic

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) related disease, called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), is mainly transmitted through droplets, aerosols, and direct contact. ¹ , ² Endoscopic procedures could increase the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission to endoscopists and medical staff because coughing, retching, and belching can occur during endoscopy procedures, and could generate aerosols. During the current COVID‐19 outbreak, gastrointestinal endoscopists are exposed to COVID‐19 infection risk so that they should use the personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent further transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 during peri‐endoscopic procedures. ³ However, medical supplies, including PPE, are limited because of insufficient supply during the pandemic. Therefore, we have developed a novel face‐protective shield, a commercial product, whose end‐price is approximately $1 (Japan Article Number code 4580107634378, Medi Beat Inc.). The novel face‐protective shield, called “ORIGAMI”, is formed of coated cardboard and polypropylene film, the total weight of which is approximately 31 g. The ORIGAMI can be constructed easily. The entire process takes almost 1 min. There is a distance between the face and the shield film, so the film becomes less cloudy. Unlike goggles, the ORIGAMI can be used as a disposable. Moreover, the ORIGAMI can also be expected to protect the surgical mask and N‐95 respiratory mask which are in limited supply during the COVID‐19 pandemic from aerosols. Almost all existing face‐protected shields are more expensive than the ORIGAMI. Almost 100,000 of the novel face‐protective shields can be produced per day. The novel face‐protective shield “ORIGAMI” can help the reduction of risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission to the endoscopist and medical staff and preserve the PPE resources (Figs 1,2).

Figure 1.

How to make the ORIGAMI face protection shield. (A) The outside and the inside of ORIGAMI. (B) How to make ORIGAMI is shown. First, fold the bilateral line 1 inside and return it. Next, fold the line 2 inside. Third, fold the line 3 outside with folding line 1 inside 90 degrees. Then, bind the inner band and fix the protractions in both ends through the holes. Fold the right and left line 5 outside and fold the bottom line 5 inside. Finally, bind the outer band with hooking. During making ORIGAMI, don't touch the clear film.

Figure 2.

The protective ability of ORIGAMI. We evaluated the utility of ORIGAMI to protect the face from aerosols and droplets. By wearing ORIGAMI on a doll’s face, the protective ability of ORIGAMI was evaluated. A doll with ORIGAMI was dressed in a surgical mask, hairnet, and ORIGAMI. The other doll without ORIGAMI was dressed in a surgical mask and hairnet. To imitate the patient's cough or retching, experimentally, a balloon with a 7‐inch size containing 5 × 10⁻³ L of indigo carmine was inflated with air and ruptured with a needle device. After three balloons were ruptured (A), the stains of dolls’ faces, surgical masks, hairnets were compared respectively. Some stains appeared in the surface of the ORIGAMI (B). Some stains also appeared in the face, the surgical mask, and the hairnet of the doll without ORIGAMI (C). However, there was no stain in the face and the surgical mask of the doll with ORIGAMI (D).

Conflicts of Interests

Author H.I. is a Deputy Editors‐in‐Chief of Digestive Endoscopy. Other authors declare no conflict of interest associated with this article.