Based on the technological achievements from project CleanAir, a project proposal, issued to European Space Agency by CleanAir consortium members Bucher Solutions, Danube Private University, IonOXess and Villinger has been approved for funding. Project CLAIS (Clean Air In Space) focuses on the development of an innovative air disinfection system for International Space Station (ISS), based on the LEA™ technology by Villinger and IoxMed™ technology by IonOXess. The system shall be conceived as an add-on to the existing Environmental Control & Life Support System and provide enhanced efficacy mainly against bacteria and fungi.

The consortium is proud to announce the PIA™ ASC-CC 9500B device is now available for installation into European medical facilities. The device is conceived for continuous operation and constant treatment of the indoor air. One specific advantage of the PIA™ device is by incorporating the LEA™ technology, the air drawn through the device is almost unaffected by the laminar electrode array within the device, meaning that a fairly low noise emission can be safeguarded. With a maximum noise emission level of 32,4dBA, PIA™ can be constantly activated even in patient rooms, where interference with sleep caused by excessive noise levels has to be mitigated. Product launch in the US will be announced once medical device clearance for the PIA™ device has been achieved.

In order to further validate the gathered results from laboratory testing, a field testing campaign at the medical facility of consortium partner Neuromed has been executed. This study focused on the installation of the PIA™ device in a medical treatment room and a patient waiting room, both with a room volume of 42,4m3 and measurements of air-, & surface microbiology with-, and without the device installed. The outcome of this testing campaign is that airborne germs have been reduced in both rooms considerably, with an average reduction of 67% in the patient waiting room and an average reduction of 71% in the treatment room. Through the gathered results, it can be concluded, that PIA™ is able to reduce airborne pathogens, and should reduce the risk of infections in medical facilities.

Passed all necessary tests and achieved CE certification for a Ceiling System with LEA™ air disinfection technology

For the system layout as a ceiling panel, the 2nd generation of system prototypes, equipped with additional safety features including ozone measurement software, fault alert and maintenance signal via LEDs, continuous current measurement, as well as continuous monitoring of ambient air including measurement of CO2, air temperature and air pressure have been manufactured. These prototypes will be used for field-testing at the sites of partners DPU and INM. For the next generation of CleanAir prototypes, the addition of a particle counter is envisaged.

A study over a period of three months with a Cleanair prototype with implemented LEA™ technology was conducted by Cleanair Project Partner Danube Private University (DPU) by Dr. Kleber and his colleagues. The study showed a strong reduction of the Cfu´s germ count, while absolutely no formation of ozone or NOx was measurable.

We are proud to announce that the CleanAir consortium has been expanded by a new, competent partner – the Institute for virology of Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria (MUI), lead by Prof. Dr. Dorothee von Laer. MUI will be responsible for the demanding task of the execution of SARS-CoV-2 bioaerosol testing under BSL3 conditions for performance evaluation of the CleanAir system. MUI’s team leader Dr. Janine Kimpel, together with her colleagues, has already shown great competence and effort in the project and the consortium is confident that MUI will make a significant contribution to reaching project success.

The graph shows the linear trend line of the prototype with LEA™ air disinfection technology and an estimate of the theoretically achievable reduction in test time provided for such tests above the detection limit of the test procedure. Based on this extrapolation, the expected reduction for a 150-minute time under the same test conditions would theoretically be 10.0 net LOG. During the test period, the ozone level was consistently below the measurement limit of 0.001 ppm.

Besides system layout as a ceiling panel, it is envisaged to develop an air decontamination system specifically designed for installation on dental treatment chairs for effective health protection of patients and medical personnel. The design process for this system layout has begun and will be done in close cooperation with partner DPU, as a potential future operator of the planned CleanAir dental chair system.

The market-based requirements for the CleanAir system have been defined. These requirements are based on inputs from medical advisers, performing preliminary field tests, literature research, market-, and regulatory research. The gathered information will serve as the basis for the design and development of the CleanAir air decontamination system and its validation.

In order to ensure that the planned air decontamination system can be tested and validated in representative environments, several existing testing methodologies and procedures have been studied and the required testing vectors for the CleanAir system have been defined. Laboratory testing for reduction of virus content in air, as well as field testing by partners IRCCS NEUROMED and Danube Private University in medical treatment rooms will be performed.