RESEARCH & INNOVATION
MEDICINE IN THE MIST
The fight against infection takes to the air .
BY IOANA PATRINGENARU
ROUGHLY 1 IN 25 hospital patients have to prolong their stay because of healthcare-related infections developed within the hospital . But a novel idea out of the labs of UC San Diego may well bring that number down to zero .
Engineers and physicians are currently working together to create a device that can diffuse potent disinfectants into the air to effectively eliminate bacteria that commonly cause hospital-acquired infections . It may even work against drug-resistant strains of bacteria , a growing concern in modern healthcare .
UP AND ATOM An early version of the atomization device proved that disinfectants could be turned into mist using ultrasonic vibrations .
“ Cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces in medical facilities is a critical infection prevention and control practice ,” said Dr . Monika Kumaraswamy , a physician scientist at UC San Diego and hospital epidemiologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System . “ This device will make it much easier to keep hospital rooms clean .”
The technology has broader potential applications as well . Atomization could be used to deliver many new classes of medicines to patients via inhalers . “ Our goal is to make injectable treatments inhalable ,” says James Friend , professor
James Friend Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering , UC San Diego .
of mechanical engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and lead researcher on the project .
What ’ s more , researchers have built the
device using inexpensive , off-the-shelf smartphone components . In phones , these parts produce acoustic waves that mainly filter wireless cellular signals and identify voice and data information . In the diffuser , however , these smartphone components generate sound waves at extremely high frequencies — ranging from 100 million to 10 billion hertz — and create what ’ s known as a fluid capillary wave , which emits droplets and generates a mist . This method is energy efficient and can atomize even the most viscous fluids into a fine mist able to stay in the air for more than an hour .
A truly interdisciplinary endeavor , the device was built by Friend ’ s team and tested in the laboratory of Dr . Victor Nizet at the UC San Diego School of Medicine , in experiments led by Kumaraswamy . Together , the group plans to have an updated prototype for use in hospital settings within two years — but they don ’ t intend to stop there . The device also could be used in airports , airplanes and other forms of public transportation during flu season or epidemic outbreaks .
12 TRITON | WINTER 2019