This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will seek to develop a prototype combined UV/ x-ray biodecontamination source. The SARS outbreak and anthrax scare, and the ongoing bio-terror threat after 9/11, has created the need to safeguard the public against life-threatening microbes. Ultraviolet radiation is generally effective in water and air but cannot penetrate most materials. Standard gamma and x-ray radiation sources are bulky and inconvenient. The novel transmission target NanoRay x-ray generator, however, is compact and efficient, more so than today's conventional x-ray systems. Nanophosphors were developed which emit visible light under e-beam excitation, and recently shown by us to produce emissions using x-ray excitation. Collaborators at the University of Michigan will develop nanophosphors to maximize emissions in the critical UV-C range when incorporated into a modified, NanoRay x-ray tube design. The x-ray target will be selected to provide the most desirable energy spectrum to maximize UV nanophosphor emissions and x-ray flux. Cell culture experiments will test the effectiveness of this UV/x-ray source. It is expected that during Phase I, a prototype, readily deployable, combined UV/x-ray source will be produced and demonstrated to induce death to cell cultures.
There currently are over 8000 commercial aircraft operated in the United States alone. Major railroad stations and commuter trains number in the tens of thousands and large retail, commercial, office and residential buildings number in the hundreds of thousands. These environments all provide the means for the accidental or intentional spread of airborne microbes to hundreds if not thousands of individuals in a single incident. With today's widespread use of air travel, society has become international, and unintentional spread of disease can be merely a plane ride away. The recent outbreak of SARS and intentional anthrax distribution through the mail are still fresh in our minds, and post 9/11 fears of bioterrorism continue. Thus, the development of a reliable, efficient and readily deployable system to prevent or counteract microbial contamination has become critical. With the large number of potential targets, and the expanding human population, the commercial potential of such a biodecontamination device, and the societal impact of the protection that it can offer are significant.
