SBIR Phase II: Scaling and Optimizing Manufacturing Methods for Germicidal Optical Fibers (GOFs) to Prevent Disease-Causing Biofilms in Tight Channels

SBIR 第二阶段：扩大和优化杀菌光纤 (GOF) 的制造方法，以预防狭窄通道中致病的生物膜

• 批准号: 2321377
• 负责人: Katrina Fitzpatrick
• 金额: $ 98.38万
• 依托单位: OPTICAL WATERS LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2321377&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Scaling; Optimizing

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to advance the development of germicidal optical fibers (GOFs). GOFs are the first fiber technology that can effectively distribute ultraviolet (UV)-C radiation in pipes, tubes, and channels by side-emitting UV-C radiation along their entire length, like a glowstick. Placing these fibers in conduits found in hospitals, homes, and businesses can reduce infections, deaths, and operational issues caused by bacteria build-up. By expanding the use of the GOFs, the team hopes to can reduce reliance on toxic chemicals for disinfection and decrease harmful disinfection by-products. This research will increase the knowledge on the ability to manufacture specialty optical fibers as well as increase general knowledge on UV disinfection technologies. This SBIR Phase II project aims to address the logarithmic decay of light that occurs in all existing optical fibers. This limits the working length of GOFs. Technical improvements to the GOFs are needed to increase the uniformity of the light profile. Current draw tower manufacturing methods and equipment are not able to optimize the light profile. Therefore, the specific objectives of this project are to: i) modify the manufacturing equipment in a draw tower and ii) alter the optical configuration to increase the total light availability in the fiber. These objectives will increase the uniformity of light scattering along the length of the fiber and increase the length of GOFs that can be used in disinfection applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第二阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是推动杀菌光纤 (GOF) 的开发。 GOF 是第一种能够像荧光棒一样沿整个长度侧面发射 UV-C 辐射，在管道、管道和通道中有效分布紫外线 (UV)-C 辐射的光纤技术。将这些纤维放置在医院、家庭和企业的管道中可以减少细菌堆积引起的感染、死亡和操作问题。通过扩大 GOF 的使用，该团队希望能够减少对有毒化学品消毒的依赖，并减少有害的消毒副产品。这项研究将增加对特种光纤制造能力的了解，并增加对紫外线消毒技术的常识。该 SBIR 第二阶段项目旨在解决所有现有光纤中发生的光对数衰减问题。这限制了 GOF 的工作长度。需要对 GOF 进行技术改进，以提高光轮廓的均匀性。目前的拉丝塔制造方法和设备无法优化光轮廓。因此，该项目的具体目标是：i) 修改拉丝塔中的制造设备，ii) 改变光学配置以增加光纤中的总光可用性。这些目标将提高沿光纤长度的光散射均匀性，并增加可用于消毒应用的 GOF 的长度。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和评估进行评估，被认为值得支持。更广泛的影响审查标准。