St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration leads to clever, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, Defender by Zap Zone 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 different front-line organizations jumped to secure giant quantities of life-saving supplies and Zap Zone Defender USA personal protective gear (PPE), Defender by Zap Zone there has additionally been the necessity to establish quicker, Defender by Zap Zone extra efficient ways to scrub and sterilize these objects, significantly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and Defender by Zap Zone an concept began to kind. "It became clear that PPE supplies would develop into restricted as the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place the place all surgical and medical instruments are despatched to be meticulously cleaned, Zap Zone Defender Experience sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes perform that is an essential 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 Bennett, St. Luke’s Network Director of Sterile Processing.

"But with the current scenario, there's 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 personal analysis about finding methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature prompt that, in a pandemic, UV-C mild may very well be an acceptable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a particular vary of UV, or ultra-violet, mild and has been proven to deactivate viruses and other pathogens Defender by Zap Zone causing adjustments 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 by way of a collection of Zoom conferences and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, install and take a look at the gadget - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all while sustaining social distancing protocols.

The tip outcome: a approach to successfully and efficiently sterilize 200 masks each eight minutes! The "Bug Zapper" in motion. "Our current models weren't designed for large-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 project. The unit, engineered by Lehigh college students and employees and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "Bug Zapper" not only due to its appearance, however due to its COVID-killing properties. "It is unimaginable that this project moved at such a rapid speed," remarks Dr. Tansu. The team ranged from PhDs to MDs and even included an unexpected contributor - Axel Tansu, Dr. Tansu’s adolescent son. In fact, it was Axel’s contribution that allowed the unit to have such a excessive-throughput fee. "Our unique design was cylindrical in form, to make sure even exposure of the light on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel got here to me and said, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And sure sufficient, he was proper. A patent to protect the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to fulfill, in-individual, will be planned once it is protected to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper might be arduous at work, helping to protect the frontline workers at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many other stories, gives 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, as the famous philosopher Plato understood hundreds of years ago, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a totally integrated, regional, non-revenue network of greater than 15,000 workers providing providers at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual net revenue higher than $2 billion, the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Zap Zone Defender Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.