QCOSTARICA – A robot that, using ultraviolet (UV) light radiation, is capable of destroying SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19 (and other viruses or bacteria) from any surface in a matter of minutes.
That is the promise of Xenex, a robot designed by a San Antonio, Texas company and used in hospitals and health centers, laboratories, hotels, airports, and sporting events in countries such as the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain, France, Mexico, and Ecuador.
“Ultraviolet light works in four ways to attack viruses,” explained Vanessa Sancho, manager of Sterimedical, the exclusive distributor of the Xenex brand in Costa Rica.
“Three of them act on the genetic information and one acts on the proteins of the outer shell of the virus or pathogen,” she added.
According to Sancho, this robot uses type C ultraviolet radiation, which does not generate greater pollution for the environment and is not harmful to humans.
How does it work?
The next generation of coronavirus-killing robot is placed in the room or area you to be disinfected and then everyone must vacate the area.
It is programmed by time and this applies UV radiation for a number of minutes that varies according to the size of the area and its characteristics.
“Just five minutes may be all it takes,” explained Sancho.
“When finished, furniture can be moved, drawers or internal doors opened to disinfect areas that were not disinfected in the first round,” she added.
The robot has a motion sensor that, in the event that someone enters the room by mistake, the UV light stops radiating.
In a press release on Businesswire.com, it is explained that LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots emit high-intensity bursts of broad-spectrum UV light proven to deactivate SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in 2 minutes. Utilizing a pulsed xenon lamp, the robot quickly and effectively destroys viruses and bacteria where they are most vulnerable without damaging surfaces or materials.
According to a peer-reviewed study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. LightStrike robots are also proven to quickly deactivate other pathogens including Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or staph), vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), influenza, and other multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs).
Healthcare facilities (including the Mayo Clinic and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) and leading researchers have published more than 40 peer-reviewed studies validating the efficacy of the LightStrike robot technology, which is also in use in more than 110 Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense military hospitals.
