St. Luke’s, night-time mosquito control Lehigh University collaboration results in intelligent, life-saving invention. BETHLEHEM, PA. - Among stories of hope, generosity and togetherness, the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally given rise to an unbelievable feat of ingenuity - the invention of the "bug zapper for camping fly zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and different entrance-line organizations jumped to secure giant portions of life-saving supplies and night-time mosquito control personal protective equipment (PPE), night-time mosquito control there has additionally been the need to establish quicker, extra environment friendly ways to scrub and sterilize these items, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the necessity and an concept began to kind. "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 medical devices are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes operate that's an important part of the well being 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 state of affairs, there may be an overwhelming need to course of our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a light went on - literally and figuratively. "I had been doing private research about finding ways to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature prompt that, in a pandemic, UV-C gentle could be a suitable technique to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected range of UV, or extremely-violet, mild and has been shown to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by inflicting changes of their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher received 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 searching for was a excessive-throughput sterilization system," mentioned Dr. Tansu. The two organizations joined forces by means of a collection of Zoom meetings and tons of of emails, to design, fabricate, install and check the system - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all whereas sustaining social distancing protocols.

The tip result: a technique to effectively and effectively sterilize 200 masks every 8 minutes! The "outdoor bug zapper Zapper" in motion. "Our existing units were not designed for large-scale use. They might only 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 employees and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "bug zapper for patio Zapper" not solely resulting from its look, however on account of its COVID-killing properties. "It is incredible that this venture moved at such a rapid pace," remarks Dr. Tansu. The workforce 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 excessive-throughput rate. "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, night-time mosquito control ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And night-time mosquito control certain enough, cordless bug zapper he was proper. A patent to guard the team’s mental design has been filed. And a celebration for the collaborators to meet, insect zapper in-person, will be deliberate once it's secure to do so. Until then, the Bug Zapper will probably be arduous at work, helping to protect the frontline staff at St. Luke’s and beyond. This, night-time mosquito control like so many other stories, affords a ray of hope in the course of the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working together for an ideal cause. Afterall, because the well-known 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 fully integrated, regional, non-revenue community of more than 15,000 employees providing companies at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient websites. With annual internet revenue 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.