St. Luke’s, Zap Zone Defender Experience Lehigh University collaboration results in clever, 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 giant portions of life-saving provides and private protecting tools (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to determine faster, extra environment friendly methods to clean and sterilize these objects, mosquito zapper significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Zap Zone Defender Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an thought began to type. "It turned clear that PPE provides would change into restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, Zap Zone Defender Testimonial or Official Zap Zone Defender SPD, is the place the place all surgical and medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for Zap Zone Defender Testimonial reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that is a vital part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we're processing many, many gadgets here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.
"But with the current situation, there is an overwhelming need to course of our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a gentle went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing private analysis about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature recommended that, in a pandemic, UV-C light may very well be an acceptable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific range of UV, or ultra-violet, light and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing adjustments of 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 looking for was a high-throughput sterilization system," stated Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a sequence of Zoom conferences and tons of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and check the system - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.
The end outcome: a technique to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each 8 minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our present items weren't designed for large-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 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 due to its look, however attributable to its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this venture moved at such a speedy pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The staff 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 price. "Our authentic design was cylindrical in form, to make sure even exposure of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.
"Axel got here to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And certain enough, he was proper. A patent to guard the team’s intellectual design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to satisfy, Zap Zone Defender Testimonial in-particular person, might be deliberate as soon as it's protected to take action. Until then, Zap Zone Defender Testimonial the Bug Zapper will be arduous at work, serving to to protect the frontline employees at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many other stories, presents a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and Zap Zone Defender Testimonial spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working collectively for an important trigger. Afterall, because the famous philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years in the past, Zap Zone Defender necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully built-in, regional, non-profit network of greater than 15,000 employees offering companies at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service space contains eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Zap Zone Defender Testimonial Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.