Monochromatic 222 nm UV light: Development of a safe, cost-effective technology for the efficient reduction of bacterial and viral infection and transmission

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Drug resistant bacteria such as MRSA and airborne transmitted microbes such as influenza and TB together present major health issues both in the developed and the developing world with major health care and economic consequences Recent research from Columbia University Medical Center demonstrated that single wavelength far UVC photons can kill bacteria and viruses while it cannot penetrate either the human stratum corneum the outer dead cell skin layer nor the ocular cornea nor the corneal tear film layer nor even the cytoplasm of individual human cells In particular the results teste both in vitro and in vivo have shown that several far UVC wavelengths such as and nm are as efficient as conventional mercury containing germicidal UV lamp in inactivating both drug resistant bacteria e g MRSA and viruses e g H N but these two far UVC wavelengths induce no damage to skin or to eyes for a wide range of clinical endpoints in contrast to a conventional broad spectrum germicidal lamp In this program the team of Columbia University and Eden Park Illumination propose a novel efficient disinfection tool which can be scalable and affordable The team will develop uniform and flat lamps having anti microbial advantages over conventional cylindrical UV lamps but without the safety hazards Eden Park have commercialized a new generation of UV light tiles with a patented microcavity plasma technology producing lamps with a scalable slim form factor for uniformly treating large surfaces Based on confinement of low temperature plasma within large arrays of microcavities this technology is ideally suited for the efficient inexpensive production of excimer based nm UV lamp The technology of a monochromatic excimer lamp emitting nm UV radiation will have two initial applications reducing surgical site infections in which nm photons will continuously illuminate the wound during surgery and minimizing airborne transmission of microbes such as TB and influenza in which whole room illumination will be used Both have been successfully demonstrated with conventional germicidal lamps but widespread use has been limited due to the associated health hazards of conventional lamps The Phase I Project Aims are first to design and develop nm microplasma UV flat lamp optimized for this germicidal application and second to use the lamp to demonstrate effective germicidal properties The first Aim will involve design and optimization of a microplasma based monochromatic far UVC flat lamp optimized for germicidal applications with the milestone of a nm flat UV lamp without higher wavelength andquot contaminantsandquot and with a lamp structure and gas mixture optimized for long lifetime The second Aim is to demonstrate the efficacy of this nm microplasma flat lamp for anti bacterial efficiency in an in vivo wound model and for anti viral efficiency in an airborne aerosol model The milestones here are to demonstrate appropriate levels of MRSA killing in a murine model of surgical site infection and appropriate levels of H N influenza virus killing in an airborne aerosol model PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Drug resistant bacteria such as MRSA and airborne transmitted microbes such as influenza and TB present major health issues both in the developed and the developing world with major human and economic consequences UV from a standard germicidal lamp is a highly efficient anti microbial modality effective both against bacteria and viruses but is not practical for use where people are present because it is a human health hazard being both carcinogenic and cataractogenic Based on biophysical principles and supported by preliminary studies it is proposed that an optimized far UVC light nm from an inexpensive excimer lamp will not produce these health hazards but will have all the anti microbial advantages of UV germicidal lamps both for drug resistant bacteria to reduce surgical site infection and for viruses to reduce airborne transmission