EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN INFECTION CONTROL (ROBOTIC SOLUTIONS ) Dr.T.V.Rao MD

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN INFECTION CONTROL

(ROBOTIC SOLUTIONS ) Dr.T.V.Rao MD Today, there is no disinfection technique, short of sterilization, that is absolutely 100 percent effective in destroying all infectious pathogens. And, of course, sterilization is impractical for the patient and the healthcare worker in a number of applications Hospital associated Infection is a unending issue in the Modern Medical care, however new technologies are entering in the Profession, where we will be dependent of Machines than, man related actions, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital infections can be linked to close to 100,000 deaths each year, and add almost $30 billion in medical costs. These costs could be deflected by new robotic technology for hospitals, like “Little Joe”, that can sweep unoccupied rooms after use and disinfect them to pristine and safe levels. “Little Joe,” a three foot tall, upright, cylinder robot actually works with the housekeeping staff at the hospital to keep rooms clean and infectious-disease free. The robot emits ultraviolet rays for 15 minutes to disinfect and kill germs. These rooms are closed and unoccupied so that humans are not exposed to the UV rays. According to newer 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. “The robots are used for further disinfection in the operating suites and patient rooms including isolation, burn and transplant,” “New technologies developed by 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 sterilization. The pulsed UV light destroys viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores without human contact or use of chemicals.-

The use of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) technology is quickly emerging as one of the preeminent means to quickly and effectively disinfect hospital settings, including settings in which the patient is being treated for the Ebola virus. Finding better ways to effectively disinfect the healthcare environment is an ongoing struggle for healthcare professionals. As a result, scientists and engineers are developing this technology as a means to combat pathogens such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile in healthcare settings. UV-C has already been proven to be very effective in disinfecting and treating water. UV-C technology offers a way to quickly and effectively disinfect the most important surfaces in hospitals and other healthcare settings, with special attention to those areas, surfaces and equipment closest to the patient, where healthcare workers also have the greatest chance of exposure

While UV-C offers several advantages over chemical disinfection agents, Gordon is quick to point out that it has its limitations. The effectiveness of UV-C depends on surfaces being cleaned prior to exposure to UV-C, the application of UV-C usually requires that that patient and healthcare workers are not in the area, and the fundamental optics of UV-C result in some surfaces getting only indirect sanitation from the UV-C light. However, "in the special case of Ebola virus, given the opaqueness of personal protection gear, UV-C may be useful in the decontamination of that gear prior to removal, and it can lower the risks for disposal as well,"

WHY ROBOTS IN INFECTION CONTROL - Robots can play an integral role in the fight against infectious diseases. Robots, unlike humans, cannot catch infectious diseases; unlike vaccines, they are agnostic to specific infectious agents; unlike antibiotics, they do not contribute to medically-resistant strains. Despite these benefits, there remain enormous technical, cultural, and social-psychological challenges to successfully deploy robots in the fight against infectious disease outbreaks

Ref 1 ICT Infection control Today

2 Fighting disease with new robot technology ROBOT WORX

3 CDC on Infection Control

Dr.T.V.Rao MD @ Futuristic article on Infection Control