St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to intelligent, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories 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 other entrance-line organizations jumped to secure giant quantities of life-saving provides and personal protecting equipment (PPE), there has also been the need to identify faster, extra efficient methods to wash and sterilize those items, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Zappify Bug Zapper site Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and Zappify official website an thought began to type. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would turn into limited as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place where all surgical and medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that's an important a part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we are processing many, many gadgets right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the current scenario, there's an overwhelming need to process our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing personal analysis about finding ways to decontaminate masks for Zappify Bug Zapper site reuse, and peer-reviewed literature urged that, Zappify Bug Zapper site in a pandemic, buy bug zapper for backyard mosquito zapper UV-C mild might be a suitable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular vary of UV, or extremely-violet, gentle and has been shown to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting changes 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 on the lookout for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," said Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces via a series of Zoom meetings and lots of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the system - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The tip result: a way to effectively and effectively sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our present items were not designed for big-scale use. They might only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," acknowledged Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the venture. The unit, engineered by Lehigh students and workers and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Zappify Bug Zapper site Zapper" not solely attributable to its look, but as a result of its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this project moved at such a fast pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The group ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. The truth is, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput rate. "Our original design was cylindrical in shape, to make sure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel got here to me and mentioned, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And sure 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-particular person, Zappify Bug Zapper site might be planned once it is protected to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper will be exhausting at work, helping to protect the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many different stories, presents a ray of hope during the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome something - particularly when working collectively for a terrific trigger. Afterall, because the famous 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-revenue network of more than 15,000 staff offering providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web income higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service space consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.