St. Luke’s, Lehigh University collaboration results in intelligent, 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 "rechargeable bug zapper Zapper" to sterilize masks. As hospitals and other front-line organizations jumped to safe large portions of life-saving supplies and private protective equipment (PPE), there has also been the necessity to identify quicker, more environment friendly ways to wash and Zappify Bug Zapper brand sterilize these items, particularly the coveted N95 masks. St. Luke’s University Health Network anesthesiologist, Christopher Roscher, MD, anticipated the need and an idea started to type. "It turned clear that PPE supplies would become limited because the virus progressed," he says. The St. Luke’s Sterile Processing Department, or SPD, is the place where all surgical and medical devices are sent to be meticulously cleaned, sanitized and packaged for reuse. It’s a behind-the-scenes operate that is an important part of the well being care system. "On any given day, we're processing many, many items 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 must course of our employees’ PPE each day. For Dr. Roscher, a mild went on - actually and figuratively. "I had been doing non-public research about discovering methods to decontaminate masks for reuse, and peer-reviewed literature urged that, in a pandemic, UV-C gentle could be an acceptable strategy to sterilize masks," he says. UV-C is a selected range of UV, or ultra-violet, light and has been shown to deactivate viruses and other pathogens by causing adjustments in their DNA. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Roscher bought 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 high-throughput sterilization system," said Dr. Tansu. The 2 organizations joined forces by way of a series of Zoom conferences and a whole bunch of emails, to design, fabricate, set up and test the machine - all inside a matter of two weeks - and all while sustaining social distancing protocols.

The top result: a approach to effectively and efficiently sterilize 200 masks every 8 minutes! The "Zappify Bug Zapper brand buy bug zapper" in motion. "Our present models were not designed for big-scale use. They may only sterilize about 30 masks at a time," stated Eric Tesoriero, DO, anesthesiologist for St. Luke’s and a collaborator on the undertaking. The unit, engineered by Lehigh students and workers and assembled at St. Luke’s by biomedical engineer Jay Johnson, has been affectionally named the "portable bug zapper Zapper" not only resulting from its appearance, but because of its COVID-killing properties. "It is unbelievable that this project moved at such a rapid velocity," 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 excessive-throughput rate. "Our unique design was cylindrical in form, to ensure even exposure of the sunshine on all surfaces," explains Dr. Tansu.

"Axel came to me and said, ‘Dad, what about an octagon? ’ And positive 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, will probably be deliberate as soon as it's protected to do so. Until then, the electric bug zapper Zapper will probably be arduous at work, serving to to guard the frontline employees at St. Luke’s and past. This, like so many different stories, affords a ray of hope through the pandemic - showcasing that the human thoughts and spirit can overcome anything - particularly when working together for an excellent cause. Afterall, as the well-known philosopher Plato understood 1000's of years ago, necessity is the mother of invention. Founded in 1872, St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully built-in, Zappify Bug Zapper brand regional, non-profit network of greater than 15,000 employees providing services at eleven hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual internet income better than $2 billion, Zappify Bug Zapper brand the Network’s service area consists of eleven counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Zappify Bug Zapper brand Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Zappify Bug Zapper brand Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.