SBIR Phase II: Scaling and Optimizing Manufacturing Methods for Germicidal Optical Fibers (GOFs) to Prevent Disease-Causing Biofilms in Tight Channels

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是推进杀菌光纤（GOF）的开发。GOF是第一种光纤技术，可以有效地分布紫外线（UV）-C辐射的管道，管，和渠道的侧面发射UV-C辐射沿着他们的整个长度，像一个荧光棒。将这些纤维放置在医院，家庭和企业中的管道中可以减少细菌积聚引起的感染，死亡和操作问题。通过扩大GOF的使用，该团队希望能够减少对有毒化学品的依赖，并减少有害的消毒副产品。这项研究将增加对制造特种光纤的能力的了解，并增加对紫外线消毒技术的一般知识。该SBIR第二阶段项目旨在解决所有现有光纤中发生的光的对数衰减。这限制了GOF的工作长度。需要对GOF进行技术改进以增加光分布的均匀性。目前的拉制塔制造方法和设备不能优化光轮廓。因此，本项目的具体目标是：i）修改拉丝塔中的制造设备，ii）改变光学配置以增加光纤中的总光可用性。这些目标将增加光散射的均匀性沿着纤维的长度，并增加GOF的长度，可用于消毒应用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to advance the development of germicidal optical fibers (GOFs). GOFs are the first fiber technology that can effectively distribute ultraviolet (UV)-C radiation in pipes, tubes, and channels by side-emitting UV-C radiation along their entire length, like a glowstick. Placing these fibers in conduits found in hospitals, homes, and businesses can reduce infections, deaths, and operational issues caused by bacteria build-up. By expanding the use of the GOFs, the team hopes to can reduce reliance on toxic chemicals for disinfection and decrease harmful disinfection by-products. This research will increase the knowledge on the ability to manufacture specialty optical fibers as well as increase general knowledge on UV disinfection technologies. This SBIR Phase II project aims to address the logarithmic decay of light that occurs in all existing optical fibers. This limits the working length of GOFs. Technical improvements to the GOFs are needed to increase the uniformity of the light profile. Current draw tower manufacturing methods and equipment are not able to optimize the light profile. Therefore, the specific objectives of this project are to: i) modify the manufacturing equipment in a draw tower and ii) alter the optical configuration to increase the total light availability in the fiber. These objectives will increase the uniformity of light scattering along the length of the fiber and increase the length of GOFs that can be used in disinfection applications.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.