Bug Zapper Kills COVID-19 Virus > 자유게시판

• 목록
• 답변
• 글쓰기
• 게시판 리스트 옵션
  • 수정
  • 삭제

St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to intelligent, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, Zap Zone Defender Testimonial 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 different front-line organizations jumped to safe giant portions of life-saving supplies and personal protecting equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly methods to scrub and sterilize these items, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an concept began to kind. "It turned clear that PPE provides would grow to be restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, Zap Zone is the place where all surgical and medical devices are despatched 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're processing many, many items right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present state of affairs, there's an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing private research about discovering ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature suggested that, in a pandemic, UV-C gentle might be a suitable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific vary of UV, or extremely-violet, light and has been shown to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by inflicting changes in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher received in touch with Nelson Tansu, PhD, Lehigh University’s Director and Endowed Chair of its Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics (CPN). "What St. Luke’s was looking for was a high-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces by way of a series of Zoom meetings and tons of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the device - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The tip result: a option to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our existing items weren't designed for big-scale use. They could solely sterilize about 30 masks at a time," said Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the project. The unit, engineered by Lehigh college students and workers and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not only as a result of its appearance, but as a consequence of its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this project moved at such a rapid pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The team ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In actual fact, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput fee. "Our authentic design was cylindrical in form, Zap Zone Defender Experience to ensure even exposure of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And sure sufficient, he was right. A patent to guard the team’s intellectual design has been filed. And Zap Zone a celebration for the collaborators to meet, in-individual, will be planned once it's secure to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper will likely be laborious at work, Zap Zone Defender helping to protect the frontline staff at St. Luke’s and beyond. This, like so many different tales, Zap Zone affords a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome something - especially when working collectively for an awesome cause. Afterall, as the famous philosopher Plato understood hundreds of years ago, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a completely built-in, regional, non-profit community of greater than 15,000 staff offering providers at 11 hospitals and Zap Zone 300 outpatient websites. With annual internet revenue 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.