Press Release

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Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories at Boston University (NEIDL/BU), has been awarded a SBIR Phase II contract from the U.S. Air Force to further develop the PSI’s antimicrobial coating and demonstrate its effectiveness on an existing Patient Movement Item (PMI) litter product and other DoD medical equipment.

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. 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 a virus panel and other pathogens of interest. The coating will be optimized to achieve high levels of viral reduction within a short amount of time. 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.

The PSI team will be solving the problem of reducing the transmission of COVID-19 and other infections, to help the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) accomplish the goal of utilizing novel antimicrobial coating technologies to protect the Airmen in environments such as patient transfer mobility aircraft and other equipment. The technology will be applied to a wide range of equipment from surgical tools to evacuation aircraft.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Dorin Preda
Group Leader, Material Technologies
dpreda@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003