Patent ID: 9566359
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: A61L,E05B,H01J

Claim:
1. An antimicrobial device, comprising: a device body having a plurality of first elements and a plurality of second elements, at least one of the elements including an antimicrobial material, wherein the elements are aligned so that the first elements are adjacent to the second elements in more than one location, wherein each of the adjacent first and second elements are separated from one another by a space, and wherein all first elements remain free from contact with all second elements; one or more insulators configured to electrically decouple the first and second elements from each other, said one or more insulators being positioned in the spaces directly between each of the adjacent first and second elements; and an electrical power supply configured to apply electric potential across the first and second elements; wherein said first and second elements are configured to be electrically coupled together by an object that comes into contact with said device body causing electrical current to flow between said first and second elements and causing emission of antimicrobial ions from the antimicrobial material toward the object; and wherein the antimicrobial device is an ex vivo antimicrobial device.