Attività

Models using hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) and ultraviolet (UV) light are moving through hospitals, health centers, government buildings, and public centers across the globe in a bid to disinfect surfaces. The use of automated air disinfection machines not only reduces human exposure to the virus but is also proving to be more rigorous and effective in decontaminating spaces. Some of the robots incorporate bulbs that emit concentrated ultraviolet-C (UVC) light.

Danish company UVD Robots is manufacturing robots that are able to disinfect patients and operating rooms in hospitals thanks to powerful short-wavelength UVC lights that emit enough energy to eradicate the DNA or RNA of any microorganisms that are exposed to them. US-based Xenex also counts on UVC light to annihilate the virus on “high touch” hard surfaces, such as bed rails, trays and call buttons. Melinda Hart, media relations director at Xenex, explained that the radiation damages the structure of genetic material and prevents particles from making more copies of themselves:

“UV light has been used in this area for a long time and there are dozens of technologies out there that use mercury bulbs to emit a continuous stream of UV light. What makes our LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots so different is that they use a pulsing Xenon lamp not a mercury bulb.This emits intense flashes of germicidal light, which are able to deactivate a pathogen very quickly so it can’t reproduce and mutate.”

The LightStrike robots, which are now being used in Europe, Asia, and the US, can disinfect a hospital room in 20 minutes and have been proven to reduce the spread of bacterium and bugs such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and C. diff (Clostridium difficile). 

“Covid-19 is not yet available in a commercial lab for testing but we have tested against Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and other surrogate viruses. Our robots were able to deactivate those quickly, so we are quite confident that they are destroying Covid-19.”

An Intelligent Solution

At Siemens Corporate Technology China, the Advanced Manufacturing Automation (AMA), which has a focus on special and industrial robots, unmanned vehicles and intelligent equipment for robotic applications, also moved quickly to help tackle the spread of the virus. The laboratory produced an intelligent disinfectant robot in just one week, explained Yu Qi, head of its research group. Its model, which is powered by a lithium battery, distributes a mist to neutralize Covid-19 and can disinfect 20,000 to 36,000 square meters in one hour.