St. Luke’s, chemical-free bug control 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 incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "Bug Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and Zap Zone Defender Testimonial other front-line organizations jumped to safe massive portions of life-saving provides and personal protective gear (PPE), there has also been the necessity to establish quicker, extra efficient ways to clean and sterilize these items, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, ZapZone MD, anticipated the need and an concept began to type. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would grow to be limited as 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 function that's a necessary part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we're processing many, many gadgets right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the current state of affairs, there is an overwhelming have to course of our employees’ PPE every day. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - literally and figuratively. "I had been doing private analysis about discovering ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature advised that, in a pandemic, UV-C gentle could be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular range of UV, or extremely-violet, gentle and has been proven to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by causing changes in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher acquired 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 on the lookout for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," said Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces via a collection of Zoom meetings and hundreds of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the gadget - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The top outcome: a technique to successfully and effectively sterilize 200 masks every 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our current models were not designed for giant-scale use. They could solely sterilize about 30 masks at a time," stated Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the undertaking. 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 only due to its look, but attributable to its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this undertaking moved at such a fast pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The crew 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 make sure even publicity of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel got here to me and said, ‘Dad, mosquito zapper what about an octagon? ’ And sure enough, he was right. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to meet, Zap Zone Defender Review in-individual, might be deliberate as soon as it is safe to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper will be onerous at work, serving to to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and ZapZone past. This, like so many different tales, presents a ray of hope during the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working together for ZapZone an amazing cause. Afterall, because the famous philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years ago, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, ZapZone St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a totally integrated, regional, non-profit community of more than 15,000 employees offering services at 11 hospitals and ZapZone 300 outpatient websites. With annual internet revenue better than $2 billion, the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, ZapZone Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Zap Zone Defender Testimonial Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.