Grant: Applied Research Rapid Response to COVID-19

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.