About Us
The Hawaiian Islands are isolated in the Central Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest landfall. Travel to or from this magical place involves many hours in the air in an environment that is often unfriendly for travelers who have breathing or respiratory problems.
The Foti Humidifying Filter™ was developed in Hawaii by Philip Foti, M.D., to provide a means of helping his patients with chronic lung problems travel long distances on planes in safety and comfort. Dr. Foti realized that many of his chronically ill patients returned to Hawaii after lengthy trips with greatly increased symptoms. In addition, other patients often developed serious respiratory tract infections after long flights, whether or not they had chronic lung disease. The pattern was too obvious to ignore.
The doctor began to experiment with a method of adding humidity to a paper mask and found that this simple form of respiratory protection helped to prevent infections and lessen the danger to patients with chronic lung ailments.
This currently available filter mask has several key features:
- An open cell foam disc to which water is added to provide a humidifying atmosphere.
- The wet surface of the filter paper allows for easy breathing, which is important for people with chronic lung ailments. (View instructions here.)
- A facial barrier has been added so that the wetted filter paper mask is not in contact with the face.
- It also forms an efficient seal so that germs, dust, pollen and even odors are filtered from outside air. (Read about the many uses here.)
About Dr. Foti
Dr. Foti was born and raised on the U.S. east coast, graduated from Georgetown University Medical School and completed a residency in pulmonary medicine at Georgetown Hospital. He spent 3 years in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Hawaii and it was there that he opened a private medical practice in 1968, Hawaii Physicians and Surgeons, Assoc. He was the first doctor in Hawaii to practice pulmonary medicine, was responsible for setting up pulmonary laboratories in hospitals throughout the state and has been an active member of the Castle Hospital medical staff.
James Foti, his son, is CEO of the Tonga Trading Co. Ltd, an import/export company based at Honolulu’s Foreign Trade Zone. Jim has been responsible for the evolution of materials, fabrication and marketing of the Foti Filter™. He is handling sales and distribution of the product. He is also an avid outrigger canoe paddler whose name and fame are known throughout the Pacific.
The Foti Filter is protected by U.S. Patent #6375724.