Understanding the durability and efficacy of antimicrobial copper surfaces in preventing infectious spread in medical facilities

COVID-19疫情提高了公众对有害细菌和病毒传播的严重后果的认识。除了空气中的飞沫，COVID-19还可以通过门把手、台面栏杆和浴室固定装置等常见的接触表面传播。虽然医院有严格的清洁和消毒协议，但当前的流行病要求这些协议通过创新和有效的解决方案来加强，以限制清洁之间的传播。安大略理工大学和诺森伯兰山医院（NHH）之间的合作伙伴关系专注于满足这一需求。具体而言，NHH对在高接触表面上部署抗菌铜（Cu）涂层以限制清洁之间的病毒传播非常感兴趣。然而，由于铜比不锈钢更容易氧化，因此存在耐久性问题。目前尚不清楚这些铜表面是否能承受医院要求的苛刻化学品和严格的清洁/消毒协议。这可能导致加速磨损，从而降低有效性和/或需要频繁更换。 为了满足这一关键的医院需求，我们的合作项目专注于评估短期和长期方法在这些环境中部署Cu表面的有效性。这将允许创建和部署最有效和持久的铜基抗菌膜。此外，该项目旨在开发加速测试方法，以独立验证高接触医疗环境中Cu表面的耐用性和有效性。在该项目完成后，这种新工具和随后的知识，将来自它将提高NHH和其他医院的能力，以测试这些铜表面的耐久性和有效性。我们的方法和发现将对更广泛的医疗保健部门以及重要的基础设施运营商（例如发电厂）非常有价值，使他们能够采用基于证据的方法来决定铜基抗菌表面是否足够坚固，可用于其运营。

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the public's awareness of the severe consequences from the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses. In addition to airborne droplets, COVID-19 can also be spread via common touch surfaces such as door handles, countertops railings, and bathroom fixtures. While hospitals have rigorous cleaning and disinfecting protocols in place, the current pandemic requires that these protocols be augmented with innovative and effective solutions that limit spread in between cleanings. The partnership between Ontario Tech University and Northumberland Hill Hospital (NHH) is focused on meeting this need. Specifically, NHH is keenly interested in deploying antimicrobial copper (Cu) coatings onto high-touch surfaces to limit virus spread in-between cleanings. However, there are durability concerns since Cu is more easily oxidized than stainless steel. It is currently unknown if these Cu surfaces can withstand the harsh chemicals and rigorous cleaning/disinfecting protocols mandated in hospitals. This could potentially lead to accelerated wear that reduce effectiveness and/or require frequent replacement. To address this key hospital need, our collaborative project is focused on evaluating the effectiveness of short-term and longer-term methods to deploy Cu surfaces into these environments. This will allow for the creation and deployment of the most effective and long-lasting Cu-based antimicrobial films. In addition, this project seeks to develop accelerated testing methods to independently verify the durability and efficacy of Cu surfaces in high-touch medical settings. At the completion of this project this new tool and subsequent knowledge that will be derived from it will enhances the capacity of NHH and other hospitals to test the durability and efficacy of these Cu surfaces. Our methods and finding will be highly valuable to the broader healthcare sector as well as essential infrastructure operators (e.g. powerplants), enabling them who will be able to employ an evidence-based methodology to decide if copper-based antimicrobial surfaces are robust enough for use in their operations.