St. Luke’s, Zap Zone Defender Lehigh University collaboration leads to intelligent, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among tales 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 different entrance-line organizations jumped to safe large portions of life-saving supplies and personal protecting gear (PPE), there has also been the necessity to establish faster, Defender by Zap Zone extra efficient ways to scrub and sterilize these items, notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and Zap Zone Defender USA an thought began to type. "It grew to become clear that PPE provides would change 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 devices are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that is 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, Zap Zone Defender St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present state of affairs, there's an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public analysis about discovering methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, Zap Zone Defender Experience and peer-reviewed literature advised that, in a pandemic, UV-C light could possibly be a suitable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular vary of UV, or ultra-violet, gentle and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting adjustments in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher acquired 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 in search of was a high-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces through a series of Zoom conferences and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the device - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all while maintaining social distancing protocols.

The top consequence: a technique to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our existing units were not designed for big-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 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 only as a consequence of its appearance, however on account of its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this undertaking moved at such a rapid pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The crew 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 rate. "Our original design was cylindrical in shape, to ensure even publicity of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel got here to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, Zap Zone Defender USA what about an octagon? ’ And sure sufficient, Official Zap Zone Defender he was right. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-particular person, will likely be deliberate as soon as it's safe to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper can be hard at work, helping to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and beyond. This, like so many different stories, gives a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and Zap Zone Defender USA spirit can overcome anything - especially when working together for an amazing 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 built-in, Zap Zone Defender USA regional, non-profit network of more than 15,000 staff offering companies at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual web income higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service area contains eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Zap Zone Defender USA Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.