The Effects of Wearing a 3-Ply or KN95 Face Mask on Cerebral Blood Flow and Oxygenation.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 virus has impacted life in many ways, one change being the use of face masks. Their effect on MRI-based measurements of cerebral oxygen levels with quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is not known.

Purpose: This study investigated whether wearing a face mask leads to changes in CBF and cerebral venous oxygen saturation measured with MRI.