Bug Zapper Kills COVID-19 Virus

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St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to intelligent, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has also given rise to an incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "bug zapper for backyard Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different front-line organizations jumped to secure giant portions of life-saving supplies and private protecting gear (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to determine faster, more environment friendly methods to scrub and sterilize these items, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an thought started to form. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would grow to be restricted 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 sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that is an important part of the health 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 current scenario, there's an overwhelming have to process our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - literally and figuratively. "I had been doing private research about discovering ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature instructed that, in a pandemic, UV-C mild could possibly be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular vary of UV, or extremely-violet, gentle and has been shown to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing changes in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher bought 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 in search of was a high-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces through a series of Zoom meetings and lots of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the device - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas sustaining social distancing protocols.



The end end result: a method to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our existing units weren't designed for large-scale use. They may only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," acknowledged Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the venture. The unit, engineered by Lehigh college students and staff and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Zappify Bug Zapper official Zapper" not only as a result of its appearance, however due to its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this undertaking moved at such a rapid speed," remarks Dr. Tansu. The team ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. The truth is, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput fee. "Our unique design was cylindrical in form, to ensure even publicity of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.



"Axel came to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive sufficient, he was right. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-particular person, will likely be deliberate as soon as it is secure to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper will likely be onerous at work, helping to protect the frontline staff at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many different stories, presents a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome something - especially when working together for an important trigger. Afterall, as the well-known philosopher Plato understood hundreds of years in the past, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a completely built-in, regional, bug zapper light non-profit community of more than 15,000 employees offering providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web revenue larger than $2 billion, the Network’s service space includes eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Zappify Bug Zapper official Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.

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