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. 2021 Apr:9:e00181.
doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2021.e00181. Epub 2021 Feb 26.

LUCIA: An open source device for disinfection of N95 masks using UV-C radiation

Marcel Bentancor  1 , Sebastián Fernández  2 , Federico Viera  3 , Sarita Etcheverry  3 , Carolina Poradosú  3 , Pablo D'Angelo  3 , Hernán Montemuiño  3 , Santiago Mirazo  4 , Álvaro Irigoyen  5 , Analía Sanabria  6 , Horacio Failache  7
Affiliations

LUCIA: An open source device for disinfection of N95 masks using UV-C radiation

Marcel Bentancor et al. HardwareX. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Faced with a global pandemic such as the one triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the medical supply chain has been highly demanded. An item in which this manifested itself more clearly, are the N95 masks, designed to be disposable items, in many cases they have had to be reused. In these emergency conditions, it was necessary to apply an effective and safe method that can be used locally. Here a device for disinfection by ultraviolet C light was developed that allows irradiating N95 masks with a known and reproducible dose. Thus being able to apply a safe and effective disinfection method according to existing information. The use of a common model of UV-C lamps and the simple construction of the device allows it to be built at low cost and with widely available materials. The effectiveness of the device was demonstrated against an enveloped RNA virus, characteristics shared with the virus that causes COVID19, being capable of reducing the viral load by 4 orders of magnitude.

Keywords: COVID19; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2; Virucide.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a) General view of the device, it has two doors for input and output of the masks’ support with the N95 masks. Over each extreme there is a led indicator to show the state of the disinfection process. b) Control panel of the device. For an easy operation it only has a button and a LCD display. c) Input of the masks’ support.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The masks support showing a N95 mask hold by their elastic bands in order to minimize shadows on their surface.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Placement of the different electrical and electronic components.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Wiring diagram. UVC lamps are generically indicated as UVC source. Relevant connections are labeled.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The light emission spectrum of Phillips TUV T8 1 SL/25 tubes in the germicidal band measured using an Ocean Optics S2000 spectrometer. Inset: spectrum including the visible band.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Representative image of locations where the masks were inoculated, outside surface (a) and inner surface (b).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (hRSV) titre reduction by UV exposure after 15 min. Face masks were inoculated with 5 log10 and 10 log10 TCID50. Inoculated untreated face masks were included as a control of virus survival. Bars show the mean ± SD of three replicates for each condition. SD values were small for all measures and may not be clearly displayed. * p = 0.00005.
Fig. A1
Fig. A1
Scheme showing the masks’ support and the distribution of the points where the intensity measurements were done. The orientation of the detector is partially indicated in the figure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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