St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration results in clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among tales of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally given rise to an incredible feat of ingenuity - the invention of the “Zappify Bug Zapper brand Zapper” to sterilize masks. As hospitals and other entrance-line organizations jumped to secure large quantities of life-saving supplies and private protective equipment (PPE), there has additionally been the need to determine faster, more efficient methods to scrub and sterilize these objects, notably the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an concept started to form. “It turned clear that PPE supplies would become limited as the virus progressed,” he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or Zappify Bug Zapper brand SPD, is the place where all surgical and medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for portable bug zapper reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes operate that is a vital a part of the health care system. “On any given day, we’re 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 state of affairs, there is an overwhelming must process our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - literally 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 gentle may very well be an appropriate technique to sterilize masks,” he says. UV-C is a selected range of UV, or extremely-violet, light and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing changes in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher bought 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 high-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 gadget - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas maintaining social distancing protocols.

The end outcome: a strategy to effectively and effectively sterilize 200 masks every eight minutes! The “Bug Zapper” in motion. “Our existing models were not designed for big-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 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 on account of its look, but resulting from its COVID-killing properties. “It is unbelievable that this undertaking moved at such a speedy pace,” remarks Dr. Tansu. The workforce 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 rate. “Our original design was cylindrical in shape, to make sure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces,” explains Dr. Tansu.

“Axel came to me and said, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And sure enough, he was right. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to satisfy, in-individual, can be deliberate once it is protected to do so. Until then, the Bug fly zapper might be hard at work, serving to to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and Zappify Bug Zapper brand beyond. This, like so many different tales, provides a ray of hope during the pandemic - showcasing that the human mind and spirit can overcome something - especially when working together for a fantastic cause. Afterall, because the well-known philosopher Plato understood hundreds of years in the past, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 15,000 workers offering companies at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual web income higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service space contains 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Zappify Bug Zapper brand Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.