Dehydration of biological materials with radiant energy and vacuum

辐射能真空（REV）是一种快速干燥热敏材料的技术，但在低温下，以免破坏生物活性。采用真空将水的沸点降低到略高于凝固点或甚至远低于凝固点，然后采用微波快速蒸发水，而不会将温度升高到破坏性水平。虽然基于过去其他人建立的原则，但我的研究小组在过去的10年里将REV发展成为一种实用的干燥技术。我的目标是开发一种经济的干燥方法，以取代冷冻干燥的许多应用。REV目前受到十几项专利的保护，其中大部分由不列颠哥伦比亚省大学拥有，这些专利已被授权给一家加拿大公司，该公司的目标是将该技术商业化。今天，REV用于干燥一些高价值的食品，如浆果和蘑菇。我们已经证明，它能够在不杀死细胞的情况下干燥细菌，以及干燥几种药物，抗生素，酶和抗体，几乎没有或没有损害。我们希望进一步证明该技术在干燥和稳定疫苗、益生菌和天然抗菌剂方面的有用性。

Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) is technique for drying heat-sensitive materials very quickly but at low temperatures so as not to damage biological activity. Vacuum is employed to lower the boiling point of water to just above the freezing point or even to far below the freezing point, then microwaves are employed to quickly evaporate the water without raising the temperature to destructive levels. Although based on principles established by others in the past, my research group has spent the last 10 years developing REV into a practical drying technology. My goal is to develop an economical drying method to replace freeze drying for many applications. REV is currently protected by about a dozen patents, most of them owned by The University of British Columbia and these patents have been licensed to a Canadian company whose goal is to commercialize the technology. Today REV is used for drying a few high-value food products such as berries and mushrooms. We have shown that it is able to dry bacteria without killing the cells, as well as to dry several drugs, antibiotics, enzymes and antibodies with little or no damage. We hope to further prove the usefulness of the technology for drying and stabilizing vaccines, probiotic bacteria, and natural antimicrobial agents.