A high-tech device, a personal protective mask combined with a antimicrobial and antiviral system (PPE), that sterilizes both the inhaled and the exhaled air has been developed at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The “mask virus terminator” is awaiting approval from the relevant services and is expected to be a game changer in the protection of the medical and nursing staff in the country.
The mask with full face coverage, is named “VITER1 GR”, from “Virus Terminator Greece” and converts passive protection against SARS-CoV-2, into active, using special LED lamps, which produce sterile UV-C radiation, emitted into the inhaled air, while in the same way it sterilizes the exhaled air with absolute safety for the user.
The device is the result of the partnership between the Department of Medicine of the School of Health Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki headed by Professor of Orthopedics Panagiotis Givisis and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, headed by Professor Christos Antonopoulos.
How the mask works
The device consists of a full-face mask (snorkeling type), with skin-friendly medical silicone material. The quality and purity of the inhaled and exhaled air is controlled by an activated carbon filtration and sterilization circuit by means of appropriate ultraviolet radiation. The amount of inhaled air is also regulated by controlling the flow rate. Sterilization is dual through independent passages, for both inhaled and exhaled air.
The specific wavelength used in the device, while maintaining its germicidal action, converts any ozone into oxygen, making the use of the device completely safe.
The inhaled air, before entering the mask internally, is filtered with a special replacement activated carbon filter and then exposed to ultraviolet radiation through the attached system, killing the unwanted germs, viruses and other pathogens that are harmful.
In addition, when leaving the device and shortly before entering the mask, the air passes through a special filter to retain the remains of dead germs and viruses.
In the same way, the exhaled air is sterilized, which in a different way reaches the complete autonomous unit for the treatment of inhaled and exhaled air.
“The virus becomes a prey”
Behind every important discovery lies human curiosity and the search for practical solutions to everyday or even more complex issues. For Professor Panagiotis Givisis, the idea was simple in its approach: “How can SARS-CoV-2 from a predator become prey, how can passive protection against the coronavirus become active?”.
Professor Givisis who works at the hospital “Papanikolaou” has a complete picture of the suffocating pressure received by the health system has sought an” aggressive “response to an insidious feature of the pandemic: the existence of a large number of asymptomatic carriers silent infection of many members of the medical and nursing staff and weakening of the hospitals at the most critical moment of the health battle.
“The answer was a mask, which will sterilize the exhaled air, so that potential asymptomatic users do not affect their colleagues, who use conventional protection measures, and do not increase the viral load in hospitals,” Givisis told state-run news agency amna.
Production and availability
The device has already received a patent rating number from the Industrial Property Organization and the US Patent Office.
The production will be in cooperation of the private sector. Company BYTOX A.E. has fully funded the implementation of the program and has undertaken the production of the device. BYTOX A.E. is in agreement with the medical equipment company G.Samaras, Medical Gas Solutions, based in Thessaloniki and export activity in 89 countries, for the industrial production of the device.
In addition to hospitals, the device is also for use in “ISO Cleanroom” type areas, as well as where there is a need for protection from infectious agents.
Looks like ‘The Return of the Fly’! Thanks, but NO THANKS!!!