美高梅官网

At first glance, it might be mistaken for a small wine cooler or dorm room refrigerator.

But Dis-Box is an ultraviolet box designed by a group of 美高梅官网 engineering students that may help extend use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers at Cincinnati鈥檚 Crossroad Health Center.

Designed initially to help a community in Tanzania use a low-tech but effective means of disinfecting and maintaining medical devices, the UV box will now disinfect masks and N95 filtering facepiece respirators in short supply in the Tristate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was created by three seniors, part of the 美高梅官网 Department of Biomedical Engineering鈥檚 Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (MDIEP) 鈥� Allison-Joy Garbo, Kellen Crosby and Sepideh Shanehsaz.

The students worked on the project at the direction of Mary Beth Privitera, professor of biomedical engineering. Privitera holds a PhD in design from Loughborough University in the UK. She was contacted in late March by Dr. Christine O鈥橠ea, associate professor of Family and Community Medicine at 美高梅官网 and medical director of Crossroad Health Center in Cincinnati, for assistance with ultraviolet light to decontaminate PPE. The connection was made, a promise was given and the MDIEP Bearcats delivered.

Crossroad Health Center has five locations including its headquarters in Over-the-Rhine and sees about 13,000 children and adults, largely serving a Medicaid population that struggles with access to health care. Privitera followed guidance from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), which offered lots of technical advice, addressing questions such as whether ultraviolet light will degrade the surface of a medical mask. The University of Nebraska Medical Center recently got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use this technique to extend the shelf life of PPE.

鈥淧rotecting health care workers, keeping them operations and functional in this time of need is of utmost importance,鈥� said Privitera. 鈥淚n addition, the situation provided for opportune learning for MDIEP students.鈥�

Her students designed a 3.8 cubic-foot UV box consisting of six walls of 录 inch acrylic sheets, which were custom laser cut at the 1819 Innovation Hub. A T-slot framing system consists of aluminum while acrylic pegs adhered to side panels allow for easy hanging of N95 respirator masks in the UV box. A light bulb producing non-ozone UV-C light emits a wavelength of 254 nanometers, which works by destroying a microorganism's nucleic acid rendering bacteria and viruses inactive.

鈥淥ur specific UV Box can disinfect a surface in as little as 39 minutes,鈥� explains Garbo, one of the students who designed the structure. 鈥淭he further an item is placed from the light, the longer it needs to be processed. With the N95 masks, they should be flipped after 39 minutes and processed again to ensure that all sides are disinfected.鈥�

Privitera said the students initially designed the UV box for Village Life Outreach to take to the Roche Health Center in rural Tanzania. That meant making sure the box could be readily assembled and disassembled and then shipped with ease. The Tanzanian community lacks many resources so every design detail was considered from the type of ultraviolet bulbs used to a detailed set of instructions for use.

鈥淭he size of the UV box was based on how Village Life Outreach stores medical devices in Tanzania,鈥� said Crosby, one of the students who created the UV box. 鈥淲e designed panels so they are flat and used aluminum steel for framing to be deconstructed so they could be easily shipped like you were packing for a vacation.鈥�

This project arose out of the contextual inquiry research conducted by MDIEP students, Akiva Kirschner and Paige Sumser.聽 Their research expressed a need for better sterilization conditions at Roche Health Center upon returning from a trip there in August. Their firsthand experience provided essential context to the problem that helped their classmates design a realistic solution. Crosby, Garbo, and Shanehsaz had hoped to send their prototypes over with them on their next trip. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic in process international travel by 美高梅官网 faculty, students and staff was put on hold.聽 The Dis-box never made it on a plane.

With modifications that prototype was used to assist Crossroad Health Center with turnaround occurring within a week. Shanehsaz performed mathematical computations to ensure the ultraviolet light would be of sufficient strength by following guidelines from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and AAMI.

Instructions which use display pictures and simple text were adjusted so medical workers locally can assemble the UV box with ease.

鈥淥ur initial project was to store and maintain devices when they went through the sterilization process in Tanzania,鈥� said Privitera. 鈥淭heir process was to boil the instruments and then lay them out on the ground and grass until they dry. Our solution was to create a box that used UV light that would maintain the decontamination properties they had when they went through the sterilization process. It would keep them clean until they are ready to use.鈥�

Privitera said the students won鈥檛 forget there is still a need in Tanzania.

鈥淲e are proud to supply Crossroad with this ultraviolet box and we will build another for Roche Health Center,鈥� said Privitera. 鈥淔uture MDIEP students will take on the challenge once travel bans are lifted.鈥�

Crossroad Health Center officials say the UV box will really make a difference.

鈥淥ur goals at Crossroad during this crisis are to serve our patients by maintaining access while also protecting our staff,鈥� said O鈥橠ea. 鈥淲hen we looked at the inventory of masks, we were not sure we would have enough to keep our doors open, so we started looking for other options.聽 When I reached out to Professor Privitera, she called me back immediately and we talked about how her students could help us. She was so amazing. How fortunate and blessed we are that it was her that I sent that email to.

鈥淭he UV-C box allows us to decontaminate our masks regularly, so that we can continue to see patients who are sick but also protect our staff,鈥� said O鈥橠ea. 鈥� It also means so much to us that there are so many out there that are supporting us as health care workers on the front line.聽 It is true that everyone has a part to play whether it is taking care of patients, answering the phones, or building a UV box. We all can really come together during this time.鈥�

Featured image at top: 美高梅官网 engineering students,聽Allison-Joy Garbo and Kellen Crosby, are shown with their UV box and staff at Crossroad Health Center. Photo/provided