EAGER: DECOMPOSING COVID-19 VIRUS USING THE DUAL ACTION OF MICROWAVES AND PLASMA

2019冠状病毒病大流行期间的医疗供应短缺，对消毒医疗个人防护装备（PPE）产生了前所未有的需求。微波和等离子体可以有效地灭活微生物病原体，并可用于消毒被污染的医疗设备。该研究项目提出了一种探索性方法，以应对当前大流行造成的一些挑战。研究人员将研究微波和等离子体的双重作用在低温下对被新冠病毒等包膜病毒污染的个人防护装备进行消毒的有效性。如果成功，该工艺将有能力净化热敏材料（如口罩、手套和防护服），方法是将它们置于微波辅助的低温等离子体中，控制其强度和密度，以避免损害其结构完整性。拟议的消毒方法可能具有变革性，还可能激发社区使用和回收某些物品的方式发生根本性变化，并应对当前COVID-19大流行之外的挑战。例如，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）估计，每年在全球范围内，与医疗保健相关的感染导致的死亡人数超过了艾滋病、乳腺癌或车祸等其他事件。拟议的研究成果将通过提出有效的医疗设备消毒技术，大大有助于缓解这一问题。因此，它将对那些无法持续获得新鲜医疗用品的地理位置产生巨大的环境和经济影响，例如美国和其他发展中国家的农村社区。这项多学科研究将分析影响低温和非破坏性温度下污染个人防护用品微波和等离子体消毒机制的关键参数。描述电磁波和等离子体在超模微波腔中的相互作用的方程的数值解将被开发。这些溶液将用于设计一个实验系统，以应用可变强度的微波和低温等离子体对污染标本。将建立一个优化系统，高精度地分析影响去污过程的参数。开发的系统在灭活包膜病毒（如COVID-19）方面的有效性将使用甲型流感病毒进行测试。有效摧毁甲型流感病毒将保证该系统有能力摧毁COVID-19。微波和等离子体强度和暴露时间将改变，同时监测标本的温度、设备室的湿度和病毒的活力。目的是确定微波和等离子体剂量、暴露时间、湿度和温度的有效组合，以破坏病毒。与使用化学物质的传统消毒方法相比，该方法具有几个优点，包括速度快、重复使用方便、持续可用、环保和安全。除了包膜和非包膜病毒外，这项研究还可能扩展到探索对被其他病原体污染的物体进行消毒，如真菌细胞和细菌。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 medical-supply shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented need for disinfecting medical personal protective equipment (PPE). Microwaves and plasma can effectively inactivate microbial pathogens and may be used for disinfecting contaminated medical equipment. This research project presents an exploratory approach to address some of the challenges created by the current pandemic. The researchers will investigate the effectiveness of the dual action of microwaves and plasma in disinfecting PPE contaminated with enveloped viruses, such as the COVID-19, at low temperatures. If successful, this process will have the ability to decontaminate heat-sensitive materials (e.g., masks, gloves, and gowns) by subjecting them to microwave-assisted low-temperature plasma with controlled intensity and density to avoid compromising their structural integrity. The proposed disinfection approach is potentially transformative and may also inspire fundamental changes in how communities use and recycle certain objects, as well as address challenges beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year healthcare-associated infections kill more people worldwide than other incidents such as AIDS, breast cancer, or car accidents. The outcomes of the proposed research will significantly contribute to alleviating this problem by presenting effective techniques for disinfecting medical equipment. Thus, it will have tremendous environmental and economic impacts to geographical locations with limited consistent access to fresh medical supplies, e.g., rural communities in the U.S. and other developing countries.This multidisciplinary research will analyze key parameters affecting microwave and plasma disinfection mechanisms of contaminated PPE at low and nondestructive temperatures. Numerical solutions for equations describing electromagnetic-wave and plasma interactions in an overmoded microwave cavity will be developed. These solutions will be used to design an experimental system to apply variable intensities of microwaves and low-temperature plasma to contaminated specimens. An optimized system will be built with high precision to analyze the parameters affecting the decontamination process. The effectiveness of the developed system in inactivating enveloped viruses, such as COVID-19, will be tested using influenza A viruses. The effective destruction of influenza A virus would guarantee the system's capability to destroy COVID-19. The microwave and plasma intensities and exposure time will be varied while the specimen's temperature, humidity in the device chamber, and the viability of the virus are being monitored. The aim is to determine the effective combination of microwave and plasma doses, exposure time, humidity, and temperature that can destroy the virus. The proposed approach has several advantages over conventional disinfection approaches using chemicals, including speed, convenience for repeated use, continuous availability, environmental friendliness, and safety. The research can potentially be extended to explore disinfecting objects contaminated with other pathogens such as fungal cells and bacteria, in addition to enveloped and non-enveloped viruses.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.