UB's bioblower closer to protecting soldiers from biological attack

“Right now, it’s 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, there’s nothing to replace and no maintenance,” said Garvey. “It’s really ‘plug and play.’ You plug in the machine and as long as it’s running, it’s 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 experience tremendous growth in coming years, said Garvey, who adds that a small portable unit could completely sterilize all of the air in any room in the house.

The BioBlower technology moved out of UB’s laboratories and into the commercialization phase thanks to funding from several sources, including the U.S. Department of Defense, secured by U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter; UB’s Office of Science Technology and Economic Outreach; NYSTAR and the UB Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology, part of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, where Buffalo BioBlower Technologies is based.

BioBlower is based on a modification of a Roots blower, a mechanical air-pump technology, which has been in existence for more than 100 years and has been used for a range of applications from vacuum pumps in research laboratories to superchargers for drag-racing "funny cars."

The BioBlower destroys airborne pathogens by rapidly heating the contaminated air under pressure and mechanically compressing it as it is being blown rapidly through the mechanical rotary pump. The system then blows the disinfected air back into the enclosed environment whether it is a tank, plane, ship, tent or building.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.