UV Disinfecting System to Facilitate N95 Respirator Re-Use
SUMMARY
- Currently there are several solutions under consideration for disinfecting N95 respirators for re-use, with UV-C as the preferred solution because of ease of deployment and widespread applicability. Problematically, present UV-C disinfection solutions are limited by shadowing, which prevents exposure of the masks to the required effective dose of UV irradiation.
- The inventors utilized UV-C light field modeling and extensive test measurements to develop a proprietary arrangement of lamps for disinfecting. The configuration eliminates shadowing, allowing for full irradiation and disinfecting of the contaminated N95 respirator surface in the shortest amount of time.
- The invention is an N95 respirator decontamination cabinet, segmented into contaminated and decontaminated compartments. Masks are fixed to a removable cassette that travels through the system on a trolley. After one minute, and upon exiting the cabinet, the masks and cassette are fully disinfected.
- The inventors prepared a non-automated prototype that has an optimal decontamination rate of 180 masks per hour. Scaled-up and automated variants are estimated to be able to process up to 1440 masks per hour or more than 34,000 masks per day.
FIGURE
ADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
- Allows for re-use of N95 respirators, relieving supply chain shortages
- UV irradiation optimized for full mask coverage
- Optimized for shortest decontamination time
- Higher throughput than current solutions
- Apparatus is made of inexpensive and readily available parts
- Modular design allows for easy scale-up
- Prototype constructed with testing at University of Chicago Medical Center Modular design, further scale-up planned