An investigation of the Usefulness of 3-D Digitized Facial Images For the Issuance of the MCU-2/P Protective Mask.

This report presents a new issuance method called Bestfit for the MCU-2P protective mask. The authors formulated a new issuance method based on the discovery of the exact location on the face where the mask provides the most efficient protection. Three-dimensional 3-D digitized measurements of this location can be compared to mask-size measurements to provide the best possible fit. This report includes comparisons of the Bestfit method to the existing caliper, mentonsellion length, and Slate fit methods. Benefits of the new issuance method include the method provides wearers the maximum protection afforded by the masks design the method identifies wearers the mask will not fit and the method establishes a half-face database for the wearer population. Drawbacks of the new method include 3-D measurement techniques could be foiled by irregular skin surfaces, requiring additional image processing and results indicate that the new method is not reliable at predicting wearability.