Operating Room Multi-Zone Air Treatment to Reduce Cross-Contamination
Solution Overview
Problem
Current operating room ventilation systems fail to effectively decontaminate airflow, leading to cross-contamination from peripheral 'dead zones' with lower air velocity, which can spread airborne bacteria to the central surgical area.
Innovation Solution
A multiple zone air handling system with a central vertical flow and peripheral non-vertical flow, utilizing directional and non-turbulent air streams to prevent contamination from peripheral zones from entering the central surgical area, employing decontamination systems like the ILLUVIA air handler to treat and return purified air to the peripheral zones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a positive pressure vertical air supply system is used centrally in the operating room, then the central zone receives cleaner higher velocity air, but peripheral dead zones become reservoirs for airborne bacteria that can be carried to the surgical site
Solution Approach 1:
The operating room is divided into multiple air zones (central surgical zone and peripheral zones) with separate air handlers for each zone. This segmentation allows independent control and decontamination of air in different regions, preventing cross-contamination while maintaining reliable air quality in the central surgical area.
Solution Approach 2:
Different air treatment strategies are applied to different zones: the central zone receives vertical laminar flow with high velocity clean air, while peripheral zones receive horizontal airflow with decontaminated air treated by UV-C irradiation. This local quality approach optimizes air quality for each specific zone's requirements.
2Productivity
If conventional ventilation systems are used, then air is supplied to the operating room, but airborne bacteria from peripheral zones can be carried by airflow currents to the surgical site
Solution Approach 1:
UV-C irradiation devices are introduced as intermediary elements within the peripheral zone air handlers. These devices act as mediators that decontaminate airborne bacteria in the peripheral zones before the air can be carried by airflow currents to the surgical site, while maintaining normal airflow supply to the operating room.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potentially harmful airflow currents that could carry bacteria into beneficial decontaminated airflow by introducing UV-C irradiation. The same airflow that could potentially spread contamination is transformed into a clean airflow that maintains productivity without the harmful aerobiological contamination.
3Reliability
If multiple zone air handling is implemented with decontamination systems, then cross-contamination is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The air handler units are designed to perform multiple functions: air supply, air return, and UV-C decontamination all within a single device. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate complex systems while maintaining effective decontamination across multiple zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The peripheral zone air handlers are equipped with UV-C irradiation devices that automatically decontaminate the air within the peripheral zones themselves, without requiring complex external decontamination systems. Each zone essentially serves its own decontamination needs, simplifying the overall system architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system significantly reduces cross-contamination by controlling airflow direction, pressure, and velocity, maintaining a sterile environment in the central surgical area by ensuring purified air does not mix with contaminated air from peripheral zones, thereby minimizing the risk of patient infection.
Implementation Method 1
a first decontamination system situated in the peripheral zone and adapted to decontaminate an air stream using at least a first ultraviolet irradiator
Implementation Method 2
Air flow strategies, such as laminar air flow and positive pressure, have been shown to inhibit aerobiological contamination
Data Source
AI summary
An operating room air treatment system and method for handling airflow in zones in an operating room. The system provides a substantially vertical air flow zone that is located generally peripherally to the operating room table and a substantially central airflow zone that is located generally centrally in the operating room.