UB's bioblower closer to protecting soldiers from biologi...(pelling that the military has now direc...),Health

The military system now being retrofitted with BioBlower is used to inflate the hospital units and temporary shelters erected in the battlefield for command headquarters.

Were removing their current fan and replacing it with our electrical air pump, the BioBlower, which also will instantly kill any airborne biological agents on contact, Garvey said.

Conventional technologies involve the use of HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters, which simply trap large airborne spores. These passive filters have to be regularly replaced and properly discarded, posing a further potential hazard to personnel, Garvey said. In addition, they provide little or no protection against airborne viruses.

Right now, its up to soldiers in the field to swap out these filters and replace them, which involves considerable logistic demands, such as labor and expense, said Garvey.

In contrast, he noted, the BioBlower immediately kills any and all airborne biological pathogens and only electricity is needed to power the rotary air pump, which drives the blower.

With the BioBlower, theres nothing to replace and no maintenance, said Garvey. Its really plug and play. You plug in the machine and as long as its running, its doing its job.

BioBlower units are inherently scalable, said Garvey, and can be installed as a permanent part of a building's air-handling (HVAC) system, including on military bases.

The technology also has potential applications in health-care and hospital settings to ensure a sterile environment. The New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Academic Research currently is funding development of a BioBlower prototype for health-care settings with the goal of taking it into clinical trials.

BioBlower also has application to the home health-care setting, a market poised to
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