YOUR BENEFIT IN BUSINESS
Vaccine-Delivery Innovation for the Needle-Phobic
Purification Innovates Use of UVC Lights for Safety Sanitation has taken on a new meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic, with new companies forming to help address how to destroy harmful, virus-spreading pathogens to help keep community members safe and healthy. One of these is Purification, LLC — an innovative, Tempe-based company that’s harnessing the power of CDC-approved UVC lights to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses through environmental sterilization and HVAC air sterilization. The oneof-a-kind technology can be used on any surface to sanitize homes, schools or businesses in a way that’s fast, environmentally friendly, cost-effective and free of human error. Founder Nicholas Knudsen was working in the hospitality industry when the pandemic began, and when the restaurant he was operating closed, he utilized his engineering background to find a way to help the community in its battle against COVID-19. He began testing UVC lights and evaluating different ways to use them to destroy pathogens on the surface as well as in the air. UVC lights are the most effective lights for eliminating viruses and bacteria, as the light’s energy breaks down the bonds that hold together the DNA and RNA of viruses and bacteria so they are no longer able to spread. However, when effective, the lights are strong and carry risk of damaging the eyes and skin. The lights are also heat free, which makes identifying damaging levels difficult to identify. Through vigorous testing, Knudsen was able to create lights with the right amount of disinfecting power to be able to sanitize large spaces without causing permanent damage. Federal grants and tax write-offs have already been made available for the technology, which has received backing from the CDC for its safety and effectiveness in producing disinfected air, sanitizing exposed surfaces and significantly reducing the transmission of infections within a space.
It wasn’t long after my coughing and fever started that a nasal swab test from a Phoenix pharmacy confirmed what I’d suspected: Like 7.8 million other Americans (as of this writing), I’d become infected with COVID-19. Soon, my fever shot up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit, I lost my sense of taste, and I began experiencing night sweats and vivid, lucid, technicolor dreams. While my physician assured me all of this was “normal” for someone experiencing the novel coronavirus infection, the irony was not lost on me: As a healthcare executive and entrepreneur leading a company that is developing needle-free injection technology to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to the often overlooked population of needle-phobic people, I’d fallen prey to the disease my company is hoping to fight. Now that my symptoms have begun to subside, I’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on my illness and how it’s affected my perspective going forward. As a result of my experience with COVID-19, I’m more convinced than ever that we must pursue every means available to ensure that a vaccine is as widely distributed and used as possible, sparing other Americans the pain and suffering I’ve endured. A big part of this national effort will be a widespread education campaign to promote the importance of vaccine compliance. A smaller but important part is ensuring that children and adults who are afraid of needles have an option that makes it easy for them to do their part to contribute to vaccine compliance, and that’s where needlefree drug injection technology enters the picture.
NEEDLE PHOBIA: AN UNDER-PRIORITIZED HEALTHCARE ISSUE
While many of us may fear needles as children, most typically get over this apprehension to develop some level of comfort with needle-based injections. Nonetheless, needle phobia is a much bigger issue than most people realize. Needle phobia is a “prevalent yet underrecognized and under-prioritized” issue in healthcare, according the journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Citing a number of previous studies, researchers estimated that fear of needles affects between 33% and 63% of children and 14% to 38% of adults, contributing to “negative experiences” with needle procedures and healthcare for patients, caregivers and medical providers.
Needle phobia generally begins in childhood and in many cases contributes to negative health issues across the lifespans of those who experience it. Although some children and adults who suffer from needle phobia find ways to cope with their fear to successfully undergo needle procedures, many others face challenges in overcoming that anxiety, leading them to respond in ways that interfere with medical providers’ ability to properly perform these procedures, such as flailing of limbs and attempting to escape.
NEEDLE-FREE TECHNOLOGY
For the needle phobic, needle-free injection technology represents an alternative to traditional needles and syringes that holds the potential to improve vaccine adherence. Here’s how it works: A cartridge containing liquid medication is loaded into a metal, cylindrical-shaped delivery device. The device’s tip is then placed on a patient’s skin, creating an airtight seal. To use the device, a medical professional simply clicks a button on one end, and the liquid medication is dispersed through the patient’s pores, without a sharp object piercing the skin. Once the device is approved by regulators (it currently is pending FDA approval), we believe needle-phobic individuals will welcome a new option to help them obtain vaccinations with reduced stress and anxiety. As my own experience with coronavirus recedes further into the rearview mirror, I cannot stress enough the importance of following key guidelines around social distancing and mask-wearing to help minimize the virus’ impact on all of us. By helping boost adherence rates for needle-phobic patients, needle-free technology represents a similar option for reducing COVID-19’s spread. We’re proud to be a small Phoenix company trying to do our part. —Scott E. McFarland, J.D., an actively practicing intellectual property attorney since 1997 who has held top-level positions at multiple leading healthcare organizations, serves as CEO of IntegriMedical LLC (integrimedical.com)
—Jamie Killin
DEC. 2020
22
INBUSINESSPHX.COM
Needle phobia is a “prevalent yet under-recognized and under-prioritized” issue in healthcare, according the journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Citing a number of previous studies, researchers estimated that fear of needles affects between 33% and 63% of children and 14% to 38% of adults, contributing to “negative experiences” with needle procedures and healthcare for patients, caregivers and medical providers. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4867871
Photos courtesy of Purification, LLC (left), IntegriMedical LLC (right)
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