Risk mitigation to healthcare workers against viral and bacterial bioaerosol load in laparoscopic surgical exhaust with a new flow mode in hollow fiber membranes-based filter.

Laparoscopy of COVID-19-infected/suspected patients needs to be performed with the utmost care due to the chances of virus carryover through the pneumoperitoneum gas. In this study, polysulfone/polyvinyl-pyrrolidone hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were fabricated by phase inversion process, and these HFMs were bundled into a module consisting of tortuous, circular-helical arrangement. Further, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) nanoparticles (NPs), known to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties, were flow-coated on the lumen side of the HFMs. To test functional efficiency, the modules were challenged with wet aerosol and bioaerosols. Wet aerosol removal efficiency was ∼98%. Bioaerosol-containing bacteria E. coli strain K-12, showed 2.6 log (∼99.8%), and 2.1 log (∼99.3%) removal efficiency for Cu NPs and Zn NPs coated HFMs modules, respectively, and 1.6 log (∼97%) removal for plain (uncoated) HFMs. Bioaerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus (MS2 bacteriophage) showed ∼5-7 log reduction of bacteriophage for plain HFMs, 3.9 log, and 2.3 log reduction for Cu and Zn coated HFMs, respectively. The flow of aerosols entirely through the HFM lumen helps in attaining a low ΔP of < 1 mm Hg, thus rendering its usefulness, particularly for exhausting pneumoperitoneum gases where high upstream pressures could lead to barotrauma. STATEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION: Surgical smoke is generated during minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedure such as laparoscopy when electrosurgical devices are used to cut any tissues. This smoke is a hazard as it contains toxic volatile compounds, mutagens, carcinogens, bacteria, and virus-laden aerosols. Infection to healthcare professionals through the bioaerosols containing smoke is well reported in literature. The limitation of using hypochlorite and pleated/HEPA filter, led us to design a low pressure drop bioaerosol filter, which can remove smoke, tissue fragments, and COVID-19 virus. It provides a much safer operation theatre environment during MIS procedures as well as in general for bioaerosol removal.