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 incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "electric bug zapper Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different front-line organizations jumped to safe massive quantities of life-saving provides and personal protective gear (PPE), there has also been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly methods to wash and insect zapper sterilize these objects, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an thought began to kind. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would grow to be 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 operate that is a vital part of the health care system. "On any given day, we're processing many, many items here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the current situation, there's an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE every day. For Dr. Roscher, a light 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 mild could possibly be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected vary of UV, or ultra-violet, gentle and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting adjustments 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 in search of was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," said Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a sequence of Zoom conferences and lots of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and test the system - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all while maintaining social distancing protocols.

The top outcome: a method to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each 8 minutes! The "bug zapper for backyard Zapper" in motion. "Our existing models weren't designed for large-scale use. They may 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 students and staff and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "outdoor bug zapper Zapper" not solely on account of its appearance, but as a consequence of its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this mission 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 truth, 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 came to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive enough, he was right. A patent to protect the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to satisfy, Zappify official website in-particular person, will probably be planned as soon as it is secure to take action. Until then, the bug zapper light Zapper will likely be onerous at work, helping to protect the frontline employees at St. Luke’s and past. This, Zappify official website like so many different stories, provides a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and Zappify Bug Zapper spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working together for a fantastic trigger. Afterall, Zappify official website because the well-known philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years ago, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a completely integrated, regional, non-profit network of greater than 15,000 employees offering companies at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual internet revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and fly zapper Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.