Pain in ears while wearing masks? This Bengal girl has a solution

Keeping Covid-19 frontline workers in mind, Class XII student Digantika Bose has made a headband that will help reduce pressure on ears while wearing facemasks. She has won a national science competition award for the tool.

A class XII student from West Bengal’s Purba (East) Bardhaman district has won a national science competition award for her innovative ‘ear pressure reduction tool’ that she has designed keeping frontline Covid-19 workers in mind.

Digantika Bose of Vidyasagar Smriti Vidyamandir Branch 2 in Memari is among the nine children who received the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Ignited Mind Children Creativity and Innovation Awards 2020.

“Health workers, people and many others have to wear face masks for long periods of time This leads to constant pressure and pain in the ears. To solve this problem, I designed these bands with the help of discarded plastic or flexible board,” the 17-year-old said.

The contest is an annual competition aimed to “develop a culture of the ‘Samvedna’ among the children to find solutions to the local problems, addressing unmet social needs”. Talking with, Bose said: “I’m extremely happy to receive such an honour.”

This year, the foundation received around 9,000 ideas from 22 states & Union Territories, which were reviewed by the eminent scholars/practitioners at primary stage followed by expert review. The award is given to students with the most promising TAGS:COVID-19 Pandemicideas that address day-to-day problems faced by society, environment and others, according to their website.

How does ‘ear pressure reduction tool’ work?

“The head band is a facemask extender that simply connects the ear straps and extends them to wrap around the back of your head. As a result, there will be no pressure on the ears, and hence no discomfort or pain,” Digantika explained.

This is not the first covid-related innovation of the high-school student.. She has five special research and prototypes related to Covid-19. In April, she made an ‘Air Providing and Virus Destroying Mask’ that was shortlisted in a competition held by the National Innovation Foundation and recognised by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Her father, Sudipta Bose, said: “Digantika loves to be busy with various kinds of research. Her study has become a small research centre. She has received multiple awards for her ideas.”

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