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 additionally given rise to an incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "indoor bug zapper Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different entrance-line organizations jumped to secure massive quantities of life-saving provides and personal protecting gear (PPE), there has also been the need to determine faster, best bug zapper extra environment friendly methods to wash and sterilize those gadgets, notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, ZappifyBug.com anticipated the need and an concept began to kind. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would develop into restricted because the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place the place all surgical and medical instruments are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that's a vital a part of the health care system. "On any given day, we're 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 situation, there is an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public research about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature prompt that, in a pandemic, UV-C light might be an appropriate strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected vary of UV, or extremely-violet, gentle and has been proven to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by inflicting changes of their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher got 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 searching for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," said Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a sequence of Zoom conferences and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and take a look at the machine - all within a matter of two weeks - and all while sustaining social distancing protocols.
The tip outcome: a option to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our existing models were not designed for big-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 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 only as a result of its look, however resulting from its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this undertaking moved at such a rapid speed," remarks Dr. Tansu. The staff ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In reality, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a excessive-throughput fee. "Our authentic design was cylindrical in shape, to ensure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.
"Axel got here to me and said, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And certain sufficient, he was proper. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-individual, will probably be planned once it is secure to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper can be onerous at work, summer mosquito protection helping to protect the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many other stories, affords a ray of hope through the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome something - especially when working collectively for an amazing cause. 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 integrated, regional, non-revenue network of greater than 15,000 workers providing providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue better than $2 billion, the Network’s service space includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, cordless bug zapper for camping zapper Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and vandalismwiki.uk Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.