UV disinfection robot TRU-D slays hospital superbugs

July 9, 2014
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Iowa has deployed at two Iowa hospitals a portable ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system  that precisely measures reflected UVC emissions and automatically calculates the pathogen-lethal UV dose required for disinfecting health care environments.

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Iowa (Waterloo, IA) has deployed at Covenant Medical Center (also in Waterloo) and Sartori Medical Center (Cedar Falls, IA) a portable ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system that precisely measures reflected UVC emissions and automatically calculates the pathogen-lethal UV dose required for disinfecting health care environments.

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The system is a 5'5" robot called the Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfector SmartUVC (TRU-D), and it can also record and present usage data through its iTRU-D cloud-based reporting software. Results of TRU-D have been supported by multiple independent peer-reviewed studies conducted by authorities in infection control and epidemiology.

TRU-D allows hospitals to confidently clean their patient environments (such as ICUs, patient rooms, and surgery suites), killing pathogens such as influenza, norovirus, Clostridium difficile (C. diff.), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and others that compromise patient and health care employee outcomes.

After a hospital staff member cleans the room using traditional methods, TRU-D is rolled into the room to "finish the job." TRU-D does not require input of room measurements or covering of windows and vents, and can disinfect an entire room from one location. Its patented Sensor360 technology analyzes the unique variables of the room and floods the space with the proper dose of UV light energy. Once it eliminates infectious germs from contaminated surfaces before shutting down, the system audibly notifies the operator that disinfection is complete.

More than 200 TRU-Ds have been deployed to disinfect hospitals across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. For more information, please visit www.tru-d.com.

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BioOptics World Editors

We edited the content of this article, which was contributed by outside sources, to fit our style and substance requirements. (Editor’s Note: BioOptics World has folded as a brand and is now part of Laser Focus World, effective in 2022.)

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