Thor - Effective Decontamination of Sensitive Electronic Equipment to prevent Hospital Acquired Infections

医院获得性感染(HAI)是一个日益严重的问题，医院正在苦苦挣扎，因为MRSA和C.Dif等常见细菌越来越对现有的净化方法产生抵抗力。目前有两种去污方法：人工清洁，50%的表面不受影响；过氧化氢气体，这是一种耗时的方法，需要事先深度清洁，并且需要房间在去污后离线通风。特别重要的是，清洁人员必须有效地去污复杂形状的电子设备。这种类型的设备(高接触表面)在医院病房日益普遍，迫切需要一种有效的自动化去污方法。Finsen是一家中小型企业，旨在将短波长高能紫外线用于病原体去污的商业化使用。我们开发了一种用于处理便携式医疗设备的紫外线净化柜的概念，它承诺减少对此类物体进行净化所需的时间，并提高患者的安全性。该技术的主要优势是；比现有的最佳方法(如手动清洁)快5倍；具有反馈和循环记录的可重复和验证的过程；减少医院获得性感染和死亡。

Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are a growing problem, with hospitals struggling as common bacteria such as MRSA and C.Dif are increasingly resistant to existing decontamination methods. There are currently two methods of decontamination: Manual cleaning which leaves 50% of surfaces untouched, and hydrogen peroxide gas which is time consuming, requires deep clean beforehand and requires rooms to be offline to air post decontamination.Of particular importance is the challenge cleaning staff have to effectively decontaminate complex shaped electronic devices. This type of equipment (high touch surfaces) is increasingly prevalent in hospital wards and there is an urgent need for an effective automated decontamination method.Finsen is an SME established to commercialise the use of short wavelength high-energy ultraviolet light for pathogen decontamination. We have developed the concept of a UVc decontamination cabinet for processing portable medical equipment which promises to reduce the time it takes to decontaminate such objects and improve patient safety.The key advantages of the technology are; up to 5 times quicker than existing best methods such as manual cleaning; Repeatable and validated process with feedback and cycle logging; Reduction in hospital acquired infections and deaths.