REALiTY: REmoving Allergens with pLasma TechnologY

利用这笔奖金，一项颠覆性的技术解决方案将被开发出来，以减轻英国数百万人的痛苦。设想开发的设备将部署在全国各地的家庭和办公室，以显著减少室内环境中空气传播的致敏剂的浓度；因此，对英国1200多万过敏患者的整体健康做出了重大贡献。这种颠覆性的技术解决方案将减轻过敏对英国经济的负担，据估计，每年因生产力损失造成的经济负担约为71亿英镑，每年通过使用NHS资源进一步减少3.11亿英镑。该项目建议开发一种冷大气压等离子体（CAP）解决方案，该解决方案能够同时针对多种过敏原，并克服与当前方法相关的许多缺点。为了确保广泛使用，从而最大限度地发挥这项研究的影响，这项开发的技术将被包装成一种低成本、节能的消费电器，适合在家庭中连续使用。技术发展不会一帆风顺，也不会没有风险；然而，克服这些挑战的回报将是公共卫生和英国繁荣的实质性改善。为了取得成功，RCUK资助的多个研究项目的成果将汇集在一起，形成一个独特的工程解决方案，该解决方案将与一家具有前瞻性的英国工业合作伙伴共同开发。

Using this award a disruptive technological solution will be developed to alleviate the suffering of millions of people across the UK. It is envisaged that the developed device will be deployed in households and offices across the country to significantly reduce the concentration of airborne allergenic agents from within the indoor environment; thus making a significant contribution to the general wellbeing of over 12 million allergy sufferers in the UK. This disruptive technological solution will reduce the burden of allergy on the UK economy, which is estimated at around £7.1 Bn per annum through lost productivity and a further £311 million per year through the use of NHS resources.The project proposes the development of a Cold Atmospheric pressure Plasma (CAP) solution that is capable of simultaneously targeting multiple allergenic agents and overcomes many of the drawbacks associated with current approaches. To ensure widespread uptake and therefore maximise the impact from this research, the developed technology will be packaged as a low-cost and energy efficient consumer appliance, suitable for continuous use within the home. Technological development will not be easy nor risk free; however, the reward for overcoming these challenges will be a substantial improvement in public health and UK prosperity. To succeed, the outcomes of multiple RCUK funded research projects will be brought together to form a unique engineering solution which will be co-developed in collaboration with a forward-thinking UK-based industrial partner.