Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine (USA) found a way to neutralize the coronavirus using a specific type of tissue.
The task force, led by the director of the Indiana Center for Medicine and Regenerative Engineering, Chandan Sen, revealed that the virus loses its ability to infect within one minute after coming into contact with an electrical tissue.
Sen explains that the term ‘electro-pharmaceutical’ refers to the possibility of treating conditions with electricity. “An array of embedded microcell batteries that creates an electric field and wirelessly generates a low level of electricity that is harmless to humans,” the study says by publishing the preprint in ChemRxiv.
“Covid-19 is highly infectious, especially for healthcare workers; they are constantly exposed to people who have this infection and although they use, for example, masks, some of these viruses adhere to the outside of those and when they remove the masks, they inadvertently end up spreading the infection, “Sen said, as reported RT.
“So our challenge here is, once this virus comes into contact with the mask tissue, it can no longer infect any more.”
Scientists revealed that viruses adhere to human organs through electrostatic interaction and in order to successfully enter the body, their structure must remain stable. Upon contact with the mentioned fabric, this structure is destroyed, due to the interruption of the electrostatic forces required by the virus.
The team has been studying the fabric’s mechanism of action for the past six years. Scientists commented that currently, low-level electrical field-generating tissue is used “as an antimicrobial dressing for wound care of various kinds.”
The use of various cloth masks has proven to be efficient as the first personal safety ring to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and with the use of this specific cloth could further strengthen this protection while discovering an effective vaccine against the disease.
“The immediate goal with the data findings is to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization program. (FDA) to use the tissue specifically for face masks in the fight against Covid-19, ”the study reported.
