Robot cleaner kills germs

Loyola University Health System is an academic medical centre in Illinois, United States, taking disinfection to futuristic levels with robot cleaners.

Nicknamed ‘Ralph’ by housekeeping staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and ‘Little Joe’ at Loyola University Medical Center, the three-foot upright cylindrical robots provide the finishing touches to room sanitation. Both robots have a rotating telescopic head that emits germicidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs.

"Loyola is a world leader in infection control and now the addition of automated room disinfection reinforces our ongoing commitment to patient safety,” says Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA, medical director of the infection control program at Loyola University Health System. "Loyola is doing everything humanly possible to control disease and that includes robotics.”

According to studies, the disinfection robots eliminate Clostridium difficile (C. diff) in less than four minutes and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in less than two minutes.

"The robots are used for further disinfection in the operating suites and patient rooms including isolation, burn and transplant,” says Alex Tomich, DNP, RN, CIC, manager of infection prevention and control at Loyola. "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.”
 
The hospital housekeeping staff cleans the rooms and then uses the robots for additional sterilisation. The pulsed UV light destroys viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores without human contact or use of chemicals.

Source: Loyola University Health System