A Containment Device to Protect Health Care Personnel from Infectious Aerosols
Abstract
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected US military Service members and operations, as well as the daily lives of all Americans. COVID-19, however, is only one of many respiratory pathogens that adversely impact the US military and the American public. Influenza is a ubiquitous, and sometimes pandemic, respiratory disease transmitted similarly to COVID-19. Individuals with respiratory infections emit aerosols from their respiratory tract during normal activities like breathing, talking, and coughing, as well as through medical procedures, such as dental procedure, bronchoscopy, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, among others. These aerosols contain respiratory pathogens, such as influenza virus or SARS-CoV-2, and can transmit disease through multiple processes, including: depositing onto surfaces from which they can be transferred to the facial mucous membranes, traveling through air to be inhaled, or projecting onto the facial mucous membranes. All of these transmission processes are enhanced when people are close together, such as in barracks, aircraft, ships, submarines, and healthcare facilities. Traditionally, infection prevention has relied on the use of personal protective equipment (gloves, gowns, masks, or respirators) to protect susceptible people, and cleaning to remove environmental contamination. COVID-19 has highlighted that personal protective equipment may not always be available. It has been known for a long time, however, that personal protective equipment and cleaning are not always effective, which means that disease transmission occurs even when they are in use. There is a need to implement a new strategy for infection prevention, which reduces the emission of respiratory aerosols containing pathogens from the infectious person into the environment. The University of Utah Containment Ventilation for Exposure Reduction (U-COVER) is an engineering control strategy that does just that – contains and removes respiratory pathogens generated from an infectious person before they can contaminate the environment and put others at risk of infection. U-COVER will be a compact, portable system with a hood to surround the head and upper body of the infectious person, and a fan that draws air from inside the hood, passing it through a high-efficiency particulate air filter before discharge into the environment. The hood will capture and contain respiratory aerosols that would otherwise enter the environment. U-COVER will be especially valuable in confined, crowded spaces occupied by infected persons, such as in ships, submarines, aircraft, and healthcare facilities. U-COVER will be developed through an iterative user-centered design process for four use scenarios: (1) emergency and trauma care invasive procures, (2) intensive care with aerosol-generating respiratory-support systems, (3) dentistry, and (4) respiratory isolation for general use with infected persons. Focus groups and high-fidelity simulations will evaluate user requirements and usability of U-COVER. Comprehensive engineering evaluation of U-COVER functionality and efficiency will affirm that the system reduces environmental contamination and exposures from infected persons. U-COVER will be readily deployable in diverse settings where the transmission of respiratory infections is a concern, to protect the respiratory health of military and civilian populations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 05, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2110024
Entities
People
- Rachael Jones
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Utah