Hospitals are synonymous with cleanliness and now Loyola University Health System is the first academic medical center in Illinois to take disinfection to futuristic levels. Nicknamed "Ralph" by the housekeeping staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and "little Joe" at Loyola University Medical Center, 3-foot upright cylindrical robots provide the finishing touches to room sanitation. A rotating telescopic head emits cidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs dead.
Sasha Madison R.N. Manager Infection Control with the Xenex machine at the Stanford Hospital and Clinics on Monday, April 29, 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA, medical director, Infection Control Program, Loyola University Health System says.
"Loyola is a world leader in infection control and now the addition of automated room disinfection reinforces our ongoing commitment to patient safety. Loyola is doing everything humanly possible to control disease and that includes robotics."
A Loyola University Health System UV ray robot extends its head to reveal an array of UV light lamps which kill germs in hospital rooms (Click Image To Enlarge)
According to studies, the disinfection robots eliminate Clostridium difficile (C. diff) in less than 4 minutes and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in less than 2 minutes. Alex Tomich, DNP, RN, CIC, manager, infection prevention and control at Loyola says.
"The robots are used for further disinfection in the operating suites and patient rooms including isolation, burn and transplant. Loyola takes very seriously its responsibility to protect patients, visitors and our hospital staff from infections and we are early adopters of proven technology as well as best practices."
A Loyola University Health System UV ray robot with its head extended as it radiates UV rays to kill germs in hospital rooms (Click Image To Enlarge)
The hospital housekeeping staff cleans the rooms and then uses the robots for additional sterilization. The pulsed UV light destroys viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores without human contact or use of chemicals.
Hospital infections are linked to approximately 100,000 deaths each year and add as much as $30 billion a year in medical costs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ultraviolet light is up to 20 times better at disinfecting than the usual cleaners like bleach and ammonia, according to the Texas company that makes the robots, Xenex, although janitors still scrub surfaces with chemicals before turning on the robots at Stanford.
Each robot costs about $80,000 and looks a little like R2D2, with a UV strobe light that rises when in use. Stanford is the first hospital in the Bay Area to employ the technology, using it to clean patient rooms after people with especially contagious or drug-resistant conditions have been discharged. At night, Frost and Dazzler disinfect operating rooms.
Because UV light can harm eyes and skin, hospital workers stay out of the rooms and behind closed doors when the strobe lights are flashing. The germ-zapping process takes between five and 15 minutes.
Sasha Madison, manager of infection prevention and control at Stanford Hospital, said she's monitoring the medical center's infection rates this year to determine how effective the disinfecting robots are, but results from other hospitals have been promising.
There are dozens of similar but less powerful UV disinfecting devices available to the public. Handheld wands, vacuums and air purifiers promise to disinfect cell phones, makeup brushes and cutting boards - plus kill bedbugs. Prices range from $30 to $300.
Madison said the UV technology is important for hospitals, where patients are "the sickest of the sick" and have weakened immune systems. However, she said the technology might not be necessary for most American homes, where most people's immune systems "are in pretty good shape."
Courtesy of an article dated July 24, 2013 appearing in Robotic Trends and an article dated May 15, 2013 appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle
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