THUNDER BAY — A Lakehead University professor is working on a new way to sterilize N95 masks so they can be reused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Siamak Elyasi, an associate professor in Chemical Engineering, has developed a device that uses UV lights which he believes could disinfect any type of mask in about 20 minutes.
He built the unit using a 3D printer and readily available materials.
Right now, it's a simple prototype that can disinfect the surface of two masks at a time, both inside and out, but he hopes to make a larger unit that can clean up to 10 masks at once.
"In hospitals they use UV radiation to disinfect the surface of everything in the surgery room," Elyasi noted.
"It's a normal practice. UV radiation is also used to disinfect water and wastewater. UV can inactivate microorganisms including viruses," he said, adding that it was previously used during SARS and flu outbreaks.
Elyasi's device includes a timer for the UV lights, to ensure the user is not exposed to radiation.
He said the unit would only be used in emergency situations, because it's always preferable for health care workers to use new masks if they are available.However, he has seen that in some cases the same mask has been used for a whole week.
"Instead of wearing a mask for that long, every six hours they could put their masks in this device for disinfection. It's much safer than not doing anything," Elyasi said.
He received a $10,000 internal research grant from Lakehead to help pay for development of the prototype.
Elyasi is looking for research collaborators who can test it to determine the correct dosage for killing COVID-19.
