The action is about developing medical technology solutions in the hospital environment to prevent or reduce “Hospital Associated Infections (HAI)”. With up to 600,000 infections and 20,000 deaths annually in Germany, these are not just a phenomenon of the various corona waves, but a permanent issue. The increase in multi-resistant germs is particularly critical. According to a study by the AMR Industry Alliance, deaths from drug resistance could rise to around 10 million per year worldwide in 2050.
HAIs occur particularly in intensive care units (ICUs) and 98 % of HAIs in ICUs are associated with intubation. The spread of introduced germs through ventilation and suction equipment is a critical point in the protective technology used so far. Germs are filtered but not killed. The daily change and disposal of ventilation filters therefore poses a permanent danger to hospital staff and patients.
The solution in the joint research project is the combination of proven filters with built-in plasma modules for the inactivation of bacteria and viruses directly in the respiratory exhaust air or in the suction area of the devices. The plasma treatment is based on highly efficient physical processes that prevent the formation of resistance. The intended development of a stable and cost-effective ceramic plasma electrode, together with a robust and reliable disinfection technique, will make a significant contribution to safety in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The collaborative research project of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) called “Disinfection of Exhaust Air from Ventilators with Cold Plasma (Respiratory Hygiene)” was approved on 8 August 2022 and the operational start took place on 1 September 2022 with a total duration of three years and a total volume of about €3 million. The project is being carried out together with partners from the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft IKTS (Dresden) and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft IZI (Leipzig) and the companies QSIL Ceramics GmbH and Inmatec Technologies GmbH under the coordination of terraplasma GmbH.
The complete press release is available for download here.
