PFI-TT: Station consisting of ultra-violet, range C, light emitting diodes and mercury lamps for complete disinfection of mobile medical equipment

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力旨在降低医疗相关感染（HAI）的发生率。每年约有170万美国人在医疗机构感染，其中估计有10万人死于HAI引起的并发症。在全国范围内，它给医疗机构造成了350亿至450亿美元的财政负担，对保险公司也有影响。 一般来说，感染传播：a）在医院和社区之间，B）在同一家医院的病房之间。病房间感染由医务人员和移动的医疗设备（体重秤、膀胱扫描仪、听诊器等）传播。我们将开发一种用于移动的/便携式医疗设备的消毒装置，该装置可能将HAI率降低约5%，每年可挽救约5,000名美国人的生命。 采用我们的消毒设备的医院平均每年可节省约30万美元。 拟定项目描述了用于移动的/便携式医疗器械灭菌的可折叠消毒站的开发。 对化学消毒剂具有抗性的微生物的增殖使得使用高能紫外线进行消毒非常有前景;微生物不会对深紫外线（DUV）产生抗性，因为它在DNA水平上起作用。高接触表面，例如膀胱扫描仪、秤、听诊器、触摸屏等，容易被微生物污染，因此需要在下次使用前彻底消毒。目前移动的设备的消毒程序依赖于用化学品擦拭它们，但有时这不是一个好的选择，因为：a）液体消毒剂可能使电路短路（USB、视频和传感器端口），以及B）擦拭仪器的多个表面很耗时。我们将设计一种可折叠、易于部署的外壳，并配备DUV光源，作为一种低劳动力、高效的灭菌装置。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project aims to reduce the rate of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Every year approximately 1.7 million Americans get infected in medical institutions and an estimated 100,000 of them die from complications caused by HAI. Nationally, it causes $35-45 billion financial burden for medical institutions, with implications for insurance companies. In general, infections spread: a) between hospitals and the neighborhood, and b) between patients' rooms within the same hospital. The room-to-room infections are transferred by medical personnel and by mobile medical devices (scales, bladder scanners, stethoscopes, etc). We will develop a disinfection unit for mobile/portable medical devices that could potentially reduce the HAI rate by ~5%, saving roughly 5,000 American lives annually. The average annual savings for a hospital implementing our disinfection unit is an estimated $300,000. The proposed project describes development of a foldable disinfection station for sterilization of mobile/portable medical devices. The proliferation of microbes resistant to chemical disinfectant makes the use of high energy ultraviolet light for disinfection very promising; microbes do not develop resistance to deep ultraviolet (DUV) light because it operates at the level of DNA. High-touch surfaces, such as bladder scanners, scales, stethoscopes, touch screens, etc. are prone for contamination with microbes and thus need to be thoroughly disinfected before next use. Current disinfection procedures for mobile equipment rely on wiping them with chemicals but sometimes it is not a good option because: a) liquid disinfectant can short electrical circuits (USB, video, and sensor ports) and b) it is time-consuming to wipe multiple surfaces of instruments. We will engineer a foldable, easily deployable enclosure with a DUV light source as a low-labor, highly effective sterilization unit.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.