Experts at Turkey’s Trakya University modified diving masks and made them suitable for the use of patients who need respiratory support due to COVID-19.

According to a statement released by the university, an expert team started to manufacture the devices with 3D printers, allowing diving masks to be adapted into mechanical ventilation. Modified masks provide respiratory support for patients, while limiting the threat of spreading infection to the nearby environment, thanks to a special filter.

Speaking about the masks, the chancellor of the university, professor Erhan Tabakoğlu, said the protection level of the masks is high and that these masks prevent the release of particles by patients, and the exhaled and inhaled air does not mix thanks to the apparatus.

Emphasizing that these masks will provide quick and easy support for patients who need intensive care, Tabakoğlu said masks can be also used in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

While the struggle against the novel coronavirus relentlessly continues in Turkey, the number of people who succumbed to the disease has risen to 812, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet late Wednesday, with recoveries also on the rise.