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The University of Southampton
Global Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention

StarSaver - cleaning wounds when water is scare

Portable StarStream nozzle
A portable StarStream nozzle will fit any drinking water bottle

The concept of StarSaver is currently being developed by Professor Tim Leighton. StarSaver is a portable nozzle that can fit onto any bottle of drinking water and be powered by a solar-charged battery.

It takes us towards a world where a bottle of drinking water can also be used as an effective emergency wound cleaner, for rescue workers, drones or vehicles that cannot carry heavy packs of water, soap and disinfectant.

It can be used to support rural medicine and maternity services, and provide emergency cleaning for wounds and foodstuff when flooding contaminates water supplies.

 

StarSaver Pump Priming Project

A NAMRIP Pump Priming project is underway which will inform the laboratory-based development of StarSaver. Led by Professor Leighton, the project "Development and evaluation of new technology for treatment of minor trauma in community-based healthcare" is a collaboration between the NAMRIP team and the Ghana School of Public Health at the University of Ghana. Working with healthcare providers in West Africa, including the Christian Health Association of Ghana, the project will assess current guidelines and practise for treatment of wounds in a community setting, as well as the rate of complication from such injuries. The collaboration will ensure that any device developed in the laboratory is suitable for use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), in terms of infrastructure, training and economics.

Dr Mawuli Dzodzomenyo from the Ghana School of Public Health visited Southampton in December to meet the Southampton team, try out a prototype StarStream device (the original ultrasonic cleaning device) and start discussions on how the technology can be usefully deployed.

 

 

Team members: Timothy Leighton, FEE, Jim Wright, FFSHMS, Tom Secker, FNES, Craig Dolder, FEE, Mawuli Dzodzomenyo, Ghana School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Clare Polack, FOM, Mengyang Zhu, FEE.

 

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