Portable Decontamination Oven Design and Prototyping to Facilitate Filtering Facepiece Respirator (FFR) Sterilization and Reuse in the Face of the 2019-20 COVID-19 Pandemic

新冠肺炎全球大流行导致世界范围内个人防护用品短缺。 一次性使用N95过滤面片呼吸器(FFR)，被认为是最好的医疗个人防护用品类型之一 工人，供不应求，迫使医学界考虑多次重复使用这种曾经的一次性物品 资产。美国疾病控制和预防中心已确认含有紫外线杀菌剂 辐照(UVGI)作为一种高效、有效、无双产物的FFR灭菌方法；在相对 短时间内，UV-C波长破坏遗传完整性，修改病毒的DNA和RNA 比如新冠肺炎。一些一线医护人员可以使用专业的紫外线照射柜， 一些医院还提供了大规模的消毒设施。然而，大多数互动的基本工作人员 与公众每天接触不到用于灭菌和重复使用FFR的设备和工艺。这 偏远社区和疗养院和诊所等较小的设施尤其如此。传统型 大型系统价格昂贵，在危机管理时期满足可伸缩需求的能力较差，而且 在非危机时期可持续。为响应这一本地和全球需求，并与 西部爱迪生制造和温哥华岛卫生局，维多利亚的卡莫森学院， 正在致力于生产一种便携式去污烤箱，可以放置在任何社区、任何医院 病房或疗养院，以方便N95口罩的去污和重复使用。

The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in a worldwide shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Single-use N95 filtering face piece respirators (FFRs), considered one of the best types of PPE for health care workers, are in short supply, forcing the medical community to consider multiple reuse of this once disposable asset. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified contained ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) as an efficient, effective, and bi-product-free sterilization method for FFRs; in a relatively short time frame, the UV-C wavelength disrupts genetic integrity, modifying the DNA and RNA of viruses such as COVID-19. Some front-line health care workers have access to professional UV irradiation cabinets, and some hospitals provide large-scale sterilization facilities. However, most essential workers who interact with the public every day do not have access to equipment and processes used to sterilize and reuse FFRs. This is especially true of remote communities and smaller facilities such as nursing homes and clinics. Traditional large-scale systems are expensive, less able to meet scalable demands in times of crisis management, and less sustainable during non-crisis periods. In response to this local and global need, and in collaboration with Western Edison Manufacturing and the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Camosun College in Victoria BC, is working to produce a Portable Decontamination Oven that can be placed in any community, on any hospital ward or nursing home, to facilitate the decontamination and reuse of N95 masks.