McGill testing Canada’s first UV-Disinfection robot
By DE Staff
General MedicalPath-finding robot designed to reduce rates of hospital-acquired infections including COVID-19.
“It is not new to disinfect with UV-C, but the combination of ultraviolet light and robotics makes this technology very interesting,” explained Rami Tohme, Director of Infrastructure and Biomedical Engineering at the RI-MUHC. “The UV-Disinfection robot can autonomously drive around and position itself optimally in a relation to infection hotspots in any hospital setup. It can apparently achieve a higher disinfection efficiency in less time compared to existing solutions. It’s definitely worth evaluating.”
The Montreal-based biomedical and healthcare research centre says the technology assessment will determine the potential value of the UVD robot technology compared to existing technologies using safety, efficacy and effectiveness criteria. It will also include a user interface and automation test to assess the mapping function, path planning and the autonomous capabilities of the robot at the MUHC Glen site.
According the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, about 8,000 Canadians die from hospital-acquired infections each year; 220,000 others get infected. Healthcare-associated infections also result in significant extra costs for hospitals due to additional days of hospitalization and readmissions. Now, with the novel coronavirus situation, there is an increased interest in this technology.
https://muhc.ca