PHYSICAL SCIENCES INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: AF20R-DCSO1

Description

The Air Force has identified an urgent need to reduce COVID-19 contaminant loads in environments where Airmen operate (e.g., patient transfer mobility aircraft) and thus decrease transmission likelihood. To address this need, Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories at Boston University (NEIDL/BU) will develop an antimicrobial coating and demonstrate its effectiveness on an existing Patient Movement Item (PMI) litter product. PSI’s lightweight evacuation litter contains many materials representative of Air Force PMIs. PSI will coat these materials with a permanently attached, broad-spectrum antimicrobial technology.  The coating efficacy will be demonstrated against virus panel (SARS-CoV-2 and simulants) and other pathogens of interest (MRSA) The coating will be optimized to achieve high levels of viral reduction (3- 4 Log) within a short amount of time (half-life <5 min). The robustness of coating in litter operation will be evaluated upon weathering, abrasion, and cleaning. The application, efficacy, and robustness demonstrations will be extended to include other equipment that are potential disease vectors. In the post Phase II efforts, PSI and commercial partners will provide the self-decontaminating coating as a product that can be easily applied to other critical care equipment such as surgical instruments, respirators, etc.