St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among tales 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 front-line organizations jumped to secure giant quantities of life-saving supplies and personal protecting gear (PPE), there has additionally been the need to determine quicker, 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 necessity and Zap Zone Defender Experience an thought started to kind. "It grew to become clear that PPE supplies would change into restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, Zap Zone Defender Experience or SPD, Zap Zone Defender Experience is the place where all surgical and medical devices are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that's an important a part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we're 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 state of affairs, there is an overwhelming need to course of our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing personal analysis about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature suggested that, in a pandemic, UV-C light might be an acceptable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific range of UV, or extremely-violet, gentle and has been proven to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by causing changes of 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 on the lookout for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces via a sequence of Zoom conferences and lots of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and check the machine - all within a matter of two weeks - and all while maintaining social distancing protocols.
The end consequence: a strategy to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks every eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our present models were not designed for giant-scale use. They may only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," stated Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the venture. 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 because of its look, however resulting from its COVID-killing properties. "It is unbelievable that this venture moved at such a speedy velocity," remarks Dr. Tansu. The group 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 price. "Our unique design was cylindrical in form, to make sure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.
"Axel got here to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, Zap Zone Defender Experience what about an octagon? ’ And sure enough, Zap Zone Defender Experience he was right. A patent to protect the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for Zap Zone Defender the collaborators to fulfill, Zap Zone Defender Experience in-particular person, Zap Zone Defender Setup will probably be deliberate as soon as it is safe to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper might be arduous at work, ZapZone serving to to protect the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and past. This, ZapZone Defender like so many other stories, presents a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working together for an important cause. Afterall, as the well-known philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years in the past, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of greater than 15,000 employees offering providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web revenue higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Zap Zone Defender Experience Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.