St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among tales of hope, generosity and Zap Zone Defender Device togetherness, Official Zap Zone Defender the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally 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 massive quantities of life-saving supplies and private protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly methods to wash and sterilize these gadgets, notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and Zap Zone Defender System an concept began to form. "It grew to become clear that PPE provides would develop into restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, Zap Zone Defender System or SPD, is the place where all surgical and medical devices are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that is a vital part of the health care Zap Zone Defender System. "On any given day, we are processing many, many gadgets here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present situation, there may be an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE every day. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public analysis about finding ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature advised that, in a pandemic, UV-C light could be an acceptable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected vary of UV, or extremely-violet, mild and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting adjustments of 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 in search of was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces by means of a sequence of Zoom meetings and tons of of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and test the gadget - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all while maintaining social distancing protocols.

The tip end result: a technique 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 might solely sterilize about 30 masks at a time," acknowledged Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the challenge. 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 solely because of its look, however due to its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this project moved at such a speedy velocity," remarks Dr. Tansu. The crew 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 excessive-throughput rate. "Our unique design was cylindrical in shape, to ensure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and stated, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And Official Zap Zone Defender certain 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-person, might be planned once it is safe to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper will probably be onerous at work, helping to protect the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many different tales, gives a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome anything - especially when working collectively for a fantastic trigger. Afterall, insect elimination because the famous philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years ago, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a completely integrated, regional, non-revenue community of more than 15,000 workers offering services at 11 hospitals and Zap Zone Defender System 300 outpatient sites. With annual web income larger than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Zap Zone Defender System Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.