Bug Zapper Kills COVID-19 Virus
St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally given rise to an unimaginable feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "Bug Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and other entrance-line organizations jumped to safe massive quantities of life-saving supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to determine quicker, more environment friendly ways to clean and sterilize these items, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an thought began to type. "It became clear that PPE provides would change into restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place the place all surgical and medical devices are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that is a necessary a part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we are processing many, many objects here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.
"But with the present scenario, there may be an overwhelming have to course of our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - literally and figuratively. "I had been doing private analysis about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature instructed that, in a pandemic, Zap Zone Defender Experience UV-C gentle might be an appropriate technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific range of UV, or extremely-violet, light and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing modifications of their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher obtained in contact with Nelson Tansu, PhD, Lehigh University’s Director and Endowed Chair of its Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics (CPN). "What St. Luke’s was searching for Zap Zone Defender Experience was a high-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a series of Zoom meetings and a whole lot of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and check the device - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.
The end outcome: a technique to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks every eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our existing units weren't designed for big-scale use. They might only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," acknowledged Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the undertaking. The unit, engineered by Lehigh students and employees and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not only due to its appearance, but on account of its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this mission moved at such a speedy speed," remarks Dr. Tansu. The team ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In truth, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a excessive-throughput fee. "Our unique design was cylindrical in shape, to make sure even exposure of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.
"Axel came to me and stated, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And certain sufficient, he was right. A patent to protect the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-person, Zap Zone Defender will be deliberate as soon as it is safe to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper might be hard at work, serving to to protect the frontline employees at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many other tales, gives a ray of hope through the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome something - particularly when working collectively for an ideal trigger. Afterall, because the well-known philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years ago, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit community of more than 15,000 workers providing services at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual web income higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.