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 additionally given rise to an incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "Bug Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and other entrance-line organizations jumped to secure large portions of life-saving provides and personal protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly methods to wash and sterilize those items, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an thought began to kind. "It became clear that PPE provides 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 despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that's a necessary a part of the health care system. "On any given day, we are processing many, many objects right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present situation, there's an overwhelming must process our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing personal research about finding ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and Zap Zone Defender Review peer-reviewed literature urged that, in a pandemic, UV-C mild may very well be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific vary of UV, or ultra-violet, light and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting modifications in 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 looking for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces via a series of Zoom conferences and a whole lot of emails, to design, fabricate, install and check the device - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The tip consequence: a way to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our present units were not designed for large-scale use. They may solely 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 college students and staff and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not solely because of its appearance, however as a consequence of its COVID-killing properties. "It is unbelievable 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 truth, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput charge. "Our original design was cylindrical in form, to ensure even publicity of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive sufficient, indoor-outdoor zapper he was proper. A patent to guard the team’s intellectual design has been filed. And a celebration for Zap Zone Defender the collaborators to fulfill, in-person, shall be deliberate as soon as it is secure to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper shall be laborious at work, serving to to protect the frontline staff at St. Luke’s and beyond. This, like so many different stories, provides a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and Zap Zone Defender USA spirit can overcome anything - especially when working collectively for an excellent cause. Afterall, because the well-known philosopher Plato understood thousands of years in the past, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a totally built-in, regional, non-revenue community of more than 15,000 staff offering services at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual net income better than $2 billion, the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Zap Zone Defender Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.