Infected while treated? No more, thanks to adapted space technology

 “In space, we’re using the applications’ physical momentum. On Earth, we’re looking at the chemical characteristics to kill pathogens and viruses that commonly cause healthcare-associated infections. More than 300,000 patients a year in England acquire an airborne virus while receiving medical treatment in hospitals” he said. As stated, the main aim is to address that problem directly, helping to protect both patients and staff within hospitals.

Infected while treated

Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) are also known as nosocomial infections. Those are infections that patients get while receiving treatment. It is important to mention patients’ immune systems are usually weak and their bodies are vulnerable to airborne infections. It is estimated that in American hospitals HAIs account for about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually. So heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems for hospitals need to be adapted.

The PASTA project uses a porous surface DBD plasma generator that was developed for a water treatment system for long-term space exploration mission. For example, in space, it cleans water collected from celestial bodies. Microbubbles take away both biological and chemical contaminants.

On Earth, they can use this technology to sanitize the air

To test it for the purposes on Earth they injected plasma-treated air into water. “When plasma is generated, it also generates reactive species. This makes pathogens believe they are exposed to external threats, leading them to over-produce hydroperoxide – a cell-damaging agent – which kills the pathogen.” They measured the capability of plasma-treated air to remove harmful substances in the air.

How? They injected treated air into the water and to follow the capability they used a blue indicator. Its purpose is to show to what level the plasma treated was able to remove contaminants. After 5 minutes, 95% of the indicator was gone showing the effectiveness of plasma-treated air.

As noted their preliminary biological test results show that they can achieve higher than 4-log reduction (99.99%) in pathogens. Important to mention they can achieve that without using filters and fans and that chemical compounds decompose. For example that can eliminate the risk of contact harmful pathogen residues when they replace filters.

The current system and its challenges

 He added current systems only dilute air with fresh air to reduce the chances of infection. Meaning they do not eliminate the risk and have been proven insufficient for the filtration of pathogenic agents, like viruses.

“A plasma treatment system eliminates this concern, as we’re treating the air inside the hospital and properly sterilizing it.”  Dr Kim thinks PASTA could positively impact hospitals’ carbon footprints. Their findings estimate that they could reduce a hospital’s energy bill by at least 50 percent, compared to current systems. 

He said that by improving the energy efficiency of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, PASTA has the potential to significantly reduce emissions. According to a study published last year, healthcare systems are responsible for 4%–5% of the emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide.

The project was funded by the NHS Future Hospital Initiative Programme of the European Space Agency