St. Luke’s, 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 quantities of life-saving provides and private protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly ways to wash and Zap Zone Defender System sterilize those items, notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Zone Defender Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an idea started to type. "It became clear that PPE provides would grow to be restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place the place all surgical and Zap Zone Defender System medical devices are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that's a vital part of the health care system. "On any given day, we are processing many, many objects here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Zap Zone Defender Experience Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present state of affairs, there may be an overwhelming need to course of our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing personal research about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature advised that, Zap Zone Defender System in a pandemic, UV-C mild could possibly be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular range of UV, or ultra-violet, light and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing adjustments in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher obtained 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 high-throughput sterilization Zap Zone Defender System," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces through a series of Zoom conferences and lots of of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and check the gadget - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The top consequence: a way to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our existing items weren't designed for Official Zap Zone Defender big-scale use. They may only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," said Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the venture. 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 as a result of its appearance, but attributable to its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this venture moved at such a speedy pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The group 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 excessive-throughput charge. "Our authentic design was cylindrical in shape, to ensure even publicity of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, Zap Zone Defender System what about an octagon? ’ And positive enough, he was right. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to meet, in-individual, will likely be planned as soon as it's secure to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper shall be hard at work, serving to to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and Official Zap Zone Defender beyond. This, like so many different tales, gives a ray of hope throughout the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome anything - especially when working together for an important cause. Afterall, because the well-known philosopher Plato understood thousands of years in the past, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully built-in, regional, non-profit network of more than 15,000 staff providing companies at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web revenue larger than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Zap Zone Defender System Carbon, Zap Zone Defender Review Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.