Bug Zapper Kills COVID-19 Virus

St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration results in clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has also given rise to an unbelievable feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "Bug Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different entrance-line organizations jumped to safe large quantities of life-saving supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the need to establish faster, more environment friendly methods to clean and sterilize those items, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and Zap Zone Defender System an thought began to type. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would turn into limited as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place where all surgical and medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that is an important 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 Zap Zone Defender System 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 each day. For Dr. Roscher, a gentle went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public analysis about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature prompt that, in a pandemic, UV-C gentle could possibly be a suitable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular vary of UV, or extremely-violet, mild and has been shown to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by inflicting changes of their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher received 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 looking for was a excessive-throughput sterilization Zap Zone Defender System," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a collection of Zoom meetings and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the gadget - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.



The tip consequence: a technique to successfully and effectively sterilize 200 masks every 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our existing items weren't designed for large-scale use. They could only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," stated Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the mission. The unit, engineered by Lehigh students and workers and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not solely as a consequence of its look, but due to its COVID-killing properties. "It is unbelievable that this project moved at such a speedy velocity," remarks Dr. Tansu. The crew ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In fact, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput charge. "Our original design was cylindrical in form, to make sure even exposure of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.



"Axel got here to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive sufficient, he was right. A patent to protect the team’s intellectual design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to satisfy, in-individual, will likely be deliberate as soon as it's safe to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper can be exhausting at work, serving to to guard the frontline employees at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many different tales, affords a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome anything - especially when working collectively for a fantastic cause. Afterall, because the well-known 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 integrated, regional, non-revenue network of greater than 15,000 workers providing companies at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual internet revenue higher than $2 billion, Zap Zone Defender Setup the Network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Zap Zone Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.