Wearable, self-contained fully mobile personal breathing apparatus for surgeons and operating room personnel

A wearable, self-contained and fully mobile personal breathing apparatus to be worn by a surgeon or like operating room wearer to control contamination of operating room space by the air normally expired by such wearer during surgery, the apparatus comprising:

• vest means adapted to fit closely about the upper body of the wearer,
• an expiried-air-decontaminating high efficiency, particulate air filter means for removing from said expired air entering the filter upstream side 99.9 percent of all particulate contaminants therein above 0.1 micron in size said vest means including means for supporting said filter means, means for capturing wearer-expired air at its locus of expiration in locus unconfining relation and for directing said expired air to the upstream side of said filter means including conduit means communicating jsaid locus with the upstream side of said filter means, and means arranged to return air thus decontaminated to said operating room space from the downstream side of said filter including a blower connected to the downstream side of said filter means inducing expired air flow in said conduit and through said filter in decontaminating relation.