New Paper Documents Effectiveness Of Natural Physiological Salts As New Hygienic Intervention To Reduce The Exhalation Of Particles That Transmit Airborne Infectious Disease

Inhalation of the Unique Nasal Saline Reduced Exhalation of Bioaerosol by 99% in a Human Volunteer Study for up to Six Hours

Testing to Begin in High Risk Covid-19 Environments

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Sensory Cloud, a technology startup that designs solutions to problems of human well-being and healthcare through pioneering discoveries at the frontiers of olfaction and respiratory biology, announced the publication of a new peer-reviewed paper in QRB Discovery, an interdisciplinary medical journal of biological function, structure and mechanism. The paper establishes the foundation for understanding the hygienic properties of unique combinations of physiological salts, and particularly the ability of these salts to substantially mitigate expiration of the very small particles humans exhale during natural breathing and that are not captured by conventional masks.

"Airborne infectious disease transmits through the air by particles we exhale during natural breathing," said the lead author, Dr. David Edwards of Harvard University and Founder of Sensory Cloud. "Most of these particles are less than a single micron in size, and not effectively filtered by conventional face masks.  Cleaning our airways of these particles is a hygienic measure that complements the wearing of face masks, the washing of hands, and social distancing, and can be of particular value in our current COVID-19 pandemic."

In "A New Natural Defense Against Airborne Pathogens," the authors, including Edwards and Dr. Robert Langer (MIT), and several authors from Pulmatrix and Sensory Cloud, Boston-based healthcare companies co-founded by Edwards, conducted a study of 10 human volunteers to determine the efficacy of a nasal delivery of calcium and sodium salts, each present in sea water, to diminish exhaled particles of 300 nanometers to 5 microns in diameter from human airways. Based on previous research pointing to the roles of age and other factors in the spread of airborne pathogens, the researchers selected five volunteers older than 65, and five younger than 65.