Aerosol Retention Barriers: Roles and Limitations

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spotlighted the increased risk of infection among healthcare workers performing aerosol-generating medical procedures such as airway instrumentation to provide life-saving ventilatory support. Healthcare providers worldwide scrambled to develop protocols and techniques to minimize the occupational exposure risk to themselves in the setting of a limited global supply of personal protective equipment. Reports on the innovative design and use in clinical practice of aerosol barrier devices intended to contain bioaerosols such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV-2), bacteria, and other pathogens generated from infected patients began to appear in clinical practice, publications, and social media as early as March 2020.^1,2  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for these devices in May 2020, which was revoked in September 2020.^3,4...