Researchers at the University of Maryland are developing a device that uses heat to sanitize personal protective equipment for health care workers. News4’s Darcy Spencer reports.
The University of Maryland Tech Port in Southern Maryland is working on a way to quickly sanitize large amounts of personal protective equipment using intense heat.
Researchers developed what they call a heat sanitation module, a huge oven that can be used to clean personal protective equipment (PPE) so it can be reused as supplies run low or run out.
Engineers teamed up with Southern Maryland companies Burch Oil and Triton Steel to build the design.
They say the oven, which was finished in a matter of days, is in the testing phase. It will sanitize 7,000 masks per hour.
It would be made available to hospitals. They say they’ve already gotten interest from doctors from the University of Maryland
They had been working on making PPE, such as 3D masks, but decided to focus on this instead because reusing supplies will save time and resources.
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They plan to donate the first oven, saying they’re not making a profit on the oven or design.
