Alberta Technology Company Hopes Air Decontamination Device Will Help Mitigate Spread of Omicron Variant | The Canadian News

As the Omicron variant continues to spread in the province, an Alberta-based technology company hopes its new high-tech air decontamination device can help mitigate the transmission of airborne viruses, including the Omicron variant.

The device is called Ti-DOX HydroxylizAire and sticks to an oven. The circulated air travels through a chamber where it meets the heat of the lamp at 50 C and exposure to UVC rays, creating a cleaning process by chemical reaction.

“In reality, particular pathogens would be destroyed rather than captured in a filter, so what we are doing is purifying the air through a natural process,” said Ti-DOX President Dean Neitz.

“What we are trying to do with this technology is continuously improve the air quality inside buildings,” Neitz said.

Ti-DOX Vice President Reinhard Schuetz created the device and said the idea was born more than ten years ago, when he was working as a petroleum engineer trying to decontaminate storage tanks of chemical emissions.

“Later, discovering that (the process) actually destroyed things like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, I also realized that it can also destroy germs and pathogens,” Schuetz said.

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While the technology has not been tested for COVID-19, air quality and better ventilation are now the most important thing for many people.

“All COVID has been airborne from the beginning; it is never more apparent than now,” said emergency physician Joe Vipond.

With widespread cases of the Omicron variant in Alberta, there are growing calls from some medical professionals and school boards to improve ventilation in indoor spaces.

“The fact that we have recognized airborne transmission is a great first step, but now we have to recognize the mitigation measures that accompany an airborne virus,” said Dr. Vipond.

Dr. Vipond said that ventilation, even if it is just opening windows in some cases, is one more layer of protection that accompanies masks, vaccinations and physical distancing that are used correctly.

As for Schuetz and Neitz, they hope their device can make a difference.

“I think it’s a very timely invention for where we are in the world today,” Neitz said. “I think our air is becoming a bigger concern.”