St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally given rise to an unimaginable feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "Bug Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different front-line organizations jumped to secure giant portions of life-saving supplies and personal protective gear (PPE), there has additionally been the necessity to determine faster, extra efficient ways to wash and sterilize those objects, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an concept started to type. "It became clear that PPE supplies would develop into limited as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place the place all surgical and electric bug zapper medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes function that is a necessary a part of the health care system. "On any given day, we are processing many, many items right here at our hospital in Bethlehem," states Taylor Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the present scenario, there is an overwhelming must process our employees’ PPE on a daily basis. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing personal research about discovering ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature prompt that, in a pandemic, UV-C mild could possibly be an appropriate strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected vary of UV, or ultra-violet, mild and has been proven to deactivate viruses and different pathogens by causing modifications in 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 high-throughput sterilization system," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces by way of a collection of Zoom conferences and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and take a look at the gadget - all within a matter of two weeks - and all whereas sustaining social distancing protocols.

The tip outcome: a solution to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Zappify Bug Zapper shop Zapper" in motion. "Our present models weren't designed for big-scale use. They could only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," stated Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the project. The unit, engineered by Lehigh students and staff and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not solely attributable to its appearance, however resulting from its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this challenge moved at such a rapid velocity," remarks Dr. Tansu. The team ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In actual fact, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a high-throughput rate. "Our unique design was cylindrical in shape, to make sure even publicity of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and said, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive sufficient, he was right. A patent to protect the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to satisfy, in-person, will probably be planned as soon as it's safe to do so. Until then, the bug zapper for camping Zapper will be onerous at work, serving to to guard the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and Zappify Bug Zapper shop beyond. This, like so many other tales, presents a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome something - especially when working together for an important trigger. Afterall, because the famous philosopher Plato understood thousands of years ago, necessity is the mom of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a completely integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 15,000 employees providing providers at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual net income greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and best bug zapper Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.