St. Luke’s, Official 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 other front-line organizations jumped to secure massive quantities of life-saving supplies and private protective gear (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to identify faster, more efficient methods to scrub and sterilize these items, Zap Zone Defender notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an idea began to kind. "It became clear that PPE provides would turn into limited 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 Official Zap Zone Defender reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that is a necessary part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we're processing many, many objects right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Official Zap Zone Defender Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present state of affairs, there is an overwhelming need to course of our employees’ PPE every day. For Dr. Roscher, a gentle went on - literally and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public analysis about finding ways to decontaminate masks for Official Zap Zone Defender reuse, and peer-reviewed literature steered that, in a pandemic, UV-C mild might be a suitable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a specific vary of UV, or extremely-violet, mild and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing modifications of 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 system," stated Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces via a series of Zoom meetings and tons of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and check the gadget - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The tip result: a way to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in action. "Our current models were not designed for giant-scale use. They might solely sterilize about 30 masks at a time," said Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the mission. 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 appearance, however because of its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this project moved at such a speedy velocity," remarks Dr. Tansu. The group 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 charge. "Our authentic design was cylindrical in form, to ensure even publicity of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel got here to me and Zap Zone Defender stated, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive enough, he was proper. A patent to protect the team’s intellectual design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-person, can be deliberate as soon as it's protected to take action. Until then, the Bug Zapper might be arduous at work, helping to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and beyond. This, like so many different stories, affords a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and Official Zap Zone Defender spirit can overcome something - particularly when working together for an ideal trigger. Afterall, as the famous philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years in the past, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a totally integrated, regional, non-profit community of greater than 15,000 workers offering providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual web income higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service space contains 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.